Star and Amalia vs the Forces of Darkness (Reboot)
by Star's Keyblade4114
Summary: As like the beginning of the show, Star is sent to earth to train to use the royal magic wand. But she will not be the only princess sent to earth. Join Star, Marco and Amailia as they go on crazy adventures and face forces unlike any other. Originally a collaboration between me and crysky who is recovering in the hospital after an accident. Best wishes to him.
1. Chapter 1: Amalia goes to Earth

**A/N: Welcome to the first Chapter of Star and Amalia vs. the forces of Darkness, a collaboration between me and Crysky. It's a 'what if' story about a rival kingdom to Mewni that's history is intertwined with it. I'm not going to go into too much detail about the kingdom now, maybe I'll upload a chapter that tells the kingdom's history with Mewni sometime down the road. For now, enjoy the first chapter introducing Princess Amailia Dalmasca.**

 **Chapter 1: Princess Amalia comes to Earth**

 **(Draclord Dimension, Bahamut Kingdom)**

Today in the month of Virgo 29, 2014, a special event was taking place in the Bahamut kingdom of the Draclord Dimension, a far off realm known for its many different species of dragons. On this day, Princess Amalia Dalmasca would inherit the royal family sword upon her 14th birthday. The Dragon King Sword which has been passed down for generations.

The whole kingdom was preparing for the event. All the street venders and merchants were getting their best products and items to sell for the big occasion, while the royal guard was making sure nothing went wrong. This event was so important that even the less fortune people that lived with among the citizens of New Rabanastre, a city that neighbored the surrounding area of the Bahamut Kingdom. The middle and lower class citizens occupy the large circular section which holds many weapon shops, clothing stores, magicite stones stores, inns, and residential areas.

Within the middle of that holds the city known as New Archadia. Here is where most of the nobility reside. This section of the kingdom holds more exquisite stores and places. One of these places is the Draklor Laboratory, a research and development facility that create and discover new forms of magic and weapons. They also sometimes discover new forms of life as well as other creatures that were thought to be have been extinct from Draclord. One creature is the Azure Rathalos a dragon subspecies that is highly intelligent and powerful. Alongside this fearsome beast was the female counterpart, the Sakura Rathian or Pink Rathian as some people call it. This species is the female equivalent of the Azure Rathalos, they have more armored bodies and like the Rathalos have flame sacs which allow them to scorch their prey, and poisonous talons. These two are among the first generation of dragons and were thought to have died out decades ago, but to the surprise of the scientists a research team that was out on an expedition at Dalmasca Westersand discovered several Rathalos soaring far off from where their camp was. Later that same day, they found several nests each with an ever present mother Rathian nearby while the fathers scouted from above. Not wanting to be found and killed by the protective parents, they left the area and returned with their discovery.

Now research teams have gone out from the kingdom to see what else is hidden within their world. So far more new and un-discovered creatures have been found living throughout Draclord. As well as many other small villages, towns, and kingdoms.

Another and a more active place in New Archadia is the school/military facility known as Sora Ryūjin Academy.

Since the war with Rozarria several decades ago, the kingdom has been bolstering its military. To accomplish this feet, the kingdom has been pooling its efforts into combining the art of wielding swords, axes, and spears with the ability to perform powerful magicks. The result was that depending on the magicks used, the weapon or armor could absorb the effects of it. The problem however with this is that since the armor worn by the knights is steel or iron-based, if the wielder is using a fire or electric type of magick it will either burn or electrify the person.

To ensure that their soldiers could use this new skill without endangering themselves, the kingdom had the knight's armor re-forged from Mythril, a strong and easily processed metal found in Draclord or more presumably in one of towns of Draclord a place called Bhujerba, a floating city located not too far north of Bahamut. The Lhusu Mines found near the city are where mythril metal was first discovered and because of its high responsiveness to magick, it was the perfect martial for the knight's new armor. So the king and queen requested an audience with the ruler of the city to discuss the possibility of alliance to which they agreed too. With this, the kingdom now had a new knight-class at their disposal which they dubbed 'Mystic Knight'. Soon after that, the kingdom's senate requested Dr. Cidolfus Demen Bunansa (or Dr. Cid by the Royal family and friends), the head scientist of Draklor and his team research and see if magicks fusion could be replicated into their airships. But it was soon discovered that while the fusing method could be fitted into its shields improving its defensive capabilities, it couldn't be applied to the ship's weapons.

Doctor Cid believed that perhaps a younger generation could find other ways to use magicks fusion to help benefit the kingdom other than conflict. So he suggested to the king and queen about constructing the school so those who wish to help the kingdom can by either picking up the sword or the pen. Thus, Sora Ryūjin Academy was born.

The school provides a wide variety for those who wish to defend the kingdom with steel and those of who wish to defend it with knowledge. Children around the age of 5 may attend and the grade level begins from elementary school to the college level. However, a student that is in their 3rd year of the high school level can choose to either apply for a position within the kingdom's army or continue to the college level of the school. If the student does decide to apply, then once they complete the high school level they are then sent to the military training section of the school where they pick which position to apply for.

There are several positions within the kingdom's army to choose from. The first is the standard soldier, however there are seven ranks. The first are the Imperial Guard the rank and file of the army. Although the greater part of the army is comprised of swordsman and swords woman, there are also Paladins, warriors that are fully committed to the protection of the kingdom and its people. They are also tasked with storming enemy fortresses as well as leading the front line defense. The Mages who are skilled in all form of magicks, handle ranged support. Next are Combat Wyverns, human-sized dragons specially trained for battle. Their ability to follow commands and their unwavering loyalty makes them a vital and welcomed addition to the arm's ranks. A combat wyvern's training is handled by a skilled wyvern master, with it usually needing two to three years before its ready to see combat. Next is the Imperial Elite a group of highly trained soldiers that have gone through rigorous training to become proud symbols of the army. Elites are separated into three divisions: Marksmen, being in trained in firearms; pilots, being combat airship pilots; and finally wyvern masters, being those that train the combat wyverns that fight alongside the imperial soldiers. Depending on the person's skill set, they along with any other who have applied are assigned to an instructor who specializes in one of divisions.

Next are The Judges, a special order of Knights that act as a military court. The Judge Magisters being of higher-rank are not only the enforcers of the kingdom's rules, but are also one of the elite guards of the royal family which makes them the commanders of the kingdom's army. Judge Magisters are often seen in full plate armor that has been forged and merged with mythril allowing them to use magicks fusion to enhance their weapons and armor. Finally, there are the Order of Mystic Knights who are the Bahamut Kingdom's most well renowned military forces only second to the Judge Magisters. These are knights that have trained vigorously in both swordsmanship and magicks. They are the other half of the elite guard to the royal family as well as the only unit able to fully utilize Magicks Fusion. Their appearance varies since they don't wear full armor suites like the rest of the military, however their clothing has been lined with mythril so that they can use Magicks Fusion. They can also be identified by the symbol of the royal family they wear on their clothing. Many mystic knights are actually graduates from the academy who either went on and completed the school's curriculum or were hand-picked by a member of the royal family themselves.

* * *

Finally, at the center of the kingdom was Doragon no kyūseishu the royal capital of the kingdom. Here is where the kingdom's senate meeting hall is located as well as Dalmasca Castle where the royal family reside and where princess Amailia will be receiving the Royal Magick Sword from her mother Queen Okita Dalmasca.

Within Castle Dalmasca, many nobles and knights had begun to gather in the throne room for the event. However, there was a little problem that none of them were aware of. That problem was that currently only four people were present at the throne right now.

The first person was a man with pale green eyes and mid-length dark-blue hair. He wore a white, robe-like shirt with long sleeves that is open just above his abdomen; two black belts are fastened on the sleeves. He was wearing blue wrist wraps that covered his palms to his elbow, two metal cuffs sit above the wraps on his wrists. On the lower half of his shirt, two brown belts are fashioned, below this, a large and loose brown belt hangs, it has a huge golden buckle. Over his shirt, he wears a large, dark-blue cape that is separated into three individual cloves. The interior of the cape was a deep green, while the exterior is decorated with the kingdom's symbol which was a dragon with its tail coiled inward and it's one wing spread open; the cape is held onto Kagura's body via a light brown strap. He wears plain black pants and light brown shoes with metal toe-caps.

This person was King Orion Dalmasca. He had married into the royal family from House Solidor a noble family and close ally/friend to the Dalmascan family. They also helped found the Bahamut Kingdom.

Right now though, Orion was sitting at the throne trying to keep his eyes open from the shear boredom of this waiting he was having to endure.

"Daddy, how come we're still waiting?" A little voice said. "Hm?" Orion mumbled looking down at his lap.

Sitting there looking up at him was a little girl that was around 6 yrs. old. She has pale green eyes like Orion, but her hair was pale-blonde and went to her shoulders. She was wearing a white long-sleeved dress with green lining on the front and dark-blue lining along the sleeves. She had a dark-blue sash was draped on her shoulders that fell and stopped at her knees if she was standing. Finally, a silver tiara with the kingdom's symbol on it, rested on her head.

This little girl was Illyasviel Dalmasca, the third princess of the Bahamut Kingdom. Being the youngest princess of the kingdom, you wouldn't expect her to be able to understand the serious talks and tasks needed to maintain the kingdom. However despite her young age, Illyasviel or Illya as she preferred, has shown to have a very good grasp of understanding what is needed to help the kingdom and her family.

"Is it because no one knows where big sister is right now?" Illya asked her father innocently. "Sigh, well sweetheart it's not that no one knows where your sister is, it's just that...umm..." Orion began racking his brain for an answer to give Illya until a familiar and annoyingly arrogant voice.

"Your Majesty, why not spare yourself the embarrassment and simply say you don't know where the lady Amalia is this time, hmm?" A voice said from the left of Orion who along with Illya turned to the owner.

Standing not too far from them were two of the Judge Magisters who were attending the event as well.

One was wearing steel plate mail armor with a black cape, the symbol of the Kingdom on the back in green. His helmet had a pair of horns pointed forward on a downward angle, and his armor bore symmetrical red markings down the chest and helmet. One his left hip was a sword with a long, complex blade mechanism, while on his right hip was a smaller mechanism with blades on both edges.

This was Judge Zargabaath, leader of the kingdom's 12th airship fleet which he commands from his airship the Alexander. A usually quiet person, Zargabaath has shown to be both loyal to the kingdom and a noble man, as well as a trusted mentor to princess Illya.

"Do you find it necessary to make such comments before his majesty Ghis?" Zargabaath asks turning to look to his fellow Judge Magister.

Ghis is the leader of the kingdom's 8th airship fleet from his personal ship the Dreadnought Leviathan. His armor made him identifiable among his fellow Judges, being gold, white, and red. It was also more lighter evident with no armor on his arms or legs. Ghis carried a sword on his left hip and a crescent-shaped spiked weapon on his right, both of which were colored gold to match his armor.

"I'm merely stating that his Majesty should just say he doesn't know where Princess Amailia has gone off to this time instead of trying to find an excuse for her." he says knowingly causing both Orion and Zargabaath to sigh in mild annoyance.

"If daddy doesn't know then, teacher Zargabaath, do you know where my big sister is?" the young princess asked looking to her mentor. "Unfortunately Lady Illyasviel, I do not know either." he said looking to his young royal student. Illya then looks to Ghis, but before she could ask, "If I knew where Lady Amalia was princess Illyasviel, I would have already said something."

Illya turns away from Ghis while puffing her cheeks out.

"You don't have to be a meanie about it you know." she mumbled pouting.

"Now, now Illya, you know Ghis didn't mean for it to come out like that." Orion said patting her while looking to Ghis knowingly. "Right Ghis?" "Sigh of course your Majesty, my apologies if I offended you princess Illyasviel." Ghis said bowing slightly to the young girl.

Illya turns around and smiles at hearing Ghis's apology.

"It's okay. I'm just worried that big sister won't make it in time and-" Illya got cut-off from what she was saying when she, Orion, Ghis, and Zargabaath heard the all too familiar sound of someone yelling.

"Where is in the world is that girl?! Does she not realize the importance of today's ceremony?!" A loud voice said. "Calm yourself will you? The princess has been looking forward to this day since she was four," a reserved feminine voice said. "Yeah, no way big sis would miss out on this day. This what she trained so hard for." a more younger voice said. "Alright, alright you three time to relax, I'm sure Amailia will get here soon." A fourth voice said sounding happy while trying to calm the other three down.

The person at the front of the group was a woman who looked to be around her mid-twenties. She had long pale blonde hair that reached the middle of her back. She also had a green ribbon tied in her hair and an ahoge could be seen at the top of her head. She had bright gold eyes, fair skin, and a slender physique. She was wearing a short light blue, frilly style dress with a layer of white ruffles over light blue ruffles of the skirt. The top has a raindrop shape opening between her breasts, and the straps of the top cross before reaching her neck on either side. The top has an open back with two x-shaped crossing stitches tightening it at her waist. A strip of gold goes down either side at the front of her top and ends at bows above her ruffles. Five golden buttons are distributed evenly going down the top on either side between the green strips.

She has a white collar of lace parted in the center of her neck that reaches over her collar bones. It's bound by a dark-blue ribbon with a large bow on the right side of her neck. It has a golden oval decoration in the center and a pair of ribbons trailing from it that reach her hips.

She wears detached, loose white sleeves that are cuffed under her shoulders running past her hands, becoming wider towards the end. A blue ribbon is tied into a bow at the top outermost sides of these sleeves, and its tails reach the length of the sleeves. White lace frills decorate the tops of the sleeves, and longer white frills hang out under the sleeves. The white also peeks out in a slit at the cuffed part of the sleeves under either ribbon.

Under the sleeves, she wears a pair of dark-blue gloves that reach her knuckles. Both have a pair of green stripes running down from her knuckles to the end of the glove. They can only be seen when the loose sleeves over them are slid back.

She was wearing a pair of tall dark-blue boots that reach her mid-thigh and have a slit down to either knee.

In her hand was a large silver sword with strange golden marking along the blade. The guard had black spikes that stuck up and white spikes that stuck out to the side. In the center was a circle with three black diamonds. At the bottom of the grip of the sword was another circle this time with four black diamonds in it, and attached to that was an arrow head.

This person is Queen Okita Dalmasca the current ruler of the Bahamut Kingdom and the three other people following here were her 10 yr. old daughter Ishtar Dalmasca the second princess of the kingdom. And the two following behind them were Judge Magister Bergan and Judge Magister Drace.

Ishtar had long dark-blue hair with a single left-swept silver highlight on her bangs. She also had heterochromia: her left eye being pale-green and her right eye being bright gold. She was wearing a dress with many intricate designs in the middle areas, connected to a bottom skirt that covers her entire lower body. The dress's blouse displays a set of lighter color edges on either side of the loose shoulder garments. Around her neck, with lighter outlines visible as well, the blouse is gifted with a hole revealing a small portion of her chest. Further; her stomach is covered by a slightly thicker adornment that spots a display of complex artwork. Finally, the bottom of the dress that covers her lower regions seems to have two layers of clothing, resembling petals, and being of a light greenish blue color.

Bergan and Drace were both wearing full steel plate armor with black capes that had the kingdom's symbol in green on them. However, Bergan's armor featured more white details, a frog-mouth helmet and emphasized collar and neck both of which had spike-like protrusions.

Drace's armor had large curved plates around her hips and thighs, and a helmet with orb protrusions on the sides.

The sword Queen Okita was carrying was in fact the royal family sword. The very sword that her eldest daughter who was off who knows where was supposed to inherit. Hence the reason why Bergan sounded upset.

"How can you be so sure of that you Highness!?" Bergan asked. "Did you forget that Gabranth went after her to make sure she got back in time?" Okita said looking back at Bergan. "Oh yeah that's right, he even told me he was going to follow behind big sis to make sure she didn't go too far off." Ishtar said walking alongside her mother as they made their way to the throne where Orion, Illya, Ghis, and Zargabaath were waiting.

Orion took Illya off his lap and set her down. The second he did, she ran up to Okita who quickly scooped her up into a hug.

"Mommy your here!" "Hi honey, did you miss me?" Okita said still hugging Illya while rubbing their cheeks together fondly.

While Ishtar watched her mother smother Illya into another hug, she didn't notice her father suddenly scoop her up and place her on his shoulder.

"Whoa Daddy! What are you doing?!" She asked smiling at her father while she sat on his shoulder. "Well I just figured you'd want a little attention from your old man is all. So, did I guess right?" He asked and received a wink as his answer.

"Cough, your Majesties; shouldn't you explain to the gathered citizens behind you why their all still waiting?" Ghis reminded the two royals. "Sigh alright Ghis, come on you two, let's see if we can buy your older sister sometime to make it here before the everyone realizes something's wrong." Okita said walking to the castle's front gate still holding Illya while Orion followed behind her with Ishtar riding on his shoulder.

Bergan, Drace, Ghis, and Zargabaath soon followed as well.

"So Gabranth went after the princess again?" Ghis asked. "You expected otherwise? You of all people should know that Gabranth takes his role as the princess's bodyguard seriously. After all, it was the princess herself that requested it and Queen Okita seemed more than happy to allow it." Drace answered.

"Although, she only approved it since the princess asked to be trained to become a Mystic Knight in exchange for enduring the tasks and responsibilities her role as crown princess entails. But why did she wish to have Gabranth be her instructor instead of simply enrolling at the academy?" Bergan asked. "I believe she said about wishing to have someone push her to become a stronger Mystic Knight than anyone in the kingdom and to one day prove it by challenging and beating us before becoming queen." Zargabaath said remembering the vow the princess swore.

"Ah yes now I remember, she did say that to us. And if I recall correctly, she said she was going to start with you first Ghis," Bergan said looking back at the gold armored Judge. "So you had best keep your skills sharp, less you disappoint the princess." He said smirking underneath his helm.

"Hmph, I'll keep that in mind." Ghis replied as he and others continued to follow the king and queen through the castle gate to the medium-sized stage where the many citizens of the kingdom have gathered to watch the passing of the royal family's sword.

* * *

"Oh boy, I almost forgot how many people come out to this ceremony." Orion said smiling nervously as he took Ishtar off his shoulder and stood next to Okita who placed Illya in front of her. "You should have seen how many people came out when it was my time to inherit this sword, I thought the entirety of Draclord was watching me." Okita said just as nervous as her husband.

"Sigh well I'll try to stall for as long as I can. I just hope she gets back soon." "Don't worry, she'll make it back, we both know she will." Orion said placing his hand on his wife's shoulder in a show of reassurance. Okita places her own hand on top of his and smiled at him showing her thanks for his encouragement. Orion soon took his hand off her shoulder as she made her way to the front of the stage to address the people.

As Orion and the others watched Okita, Illya heard a faint sound coming from somewhere. She then looks up at the sky and sees what looks to be something red with two silhouette on top of it.

"Huh? Isn't that?" "What is it Illya?" Ishtar asked when she heard her baby sister say something. "Um well…" Illya then pointed up at the sky to what she saw. Ishtar followed to what Illya was pointing to and when she saw it, she instantly knew who that was.

"Uh Daddy?" Ishtar whispered to her father. "Hm, what wrong sweetheart?" "Mommy might want to duck her head in the next 3 minutes." "Why would she need to do that? Well…" Ishtar and Illya both pointed to the sky telling Orion to look up.

Starting to get confused, Orion looked up and saw something fast approaching the stage with what looked like two people riding on its back. When he looked closer, he got a glimpse of what looked to be long dark-blue hair with pale blonde highlights.

"Sigh why am I not surprised," Orion said rubbing his temple.

"People of Bahamut! I Welcome and thank you all for coming to witness this important moment in the our kingdom's history!" Okita said as the large crowd of citizens cheered and applauded. Okita raised her hand signaling the crowd to settle down so she could continue.

"It is today that we gather here to witness a tradition that has existed within the royal family for generations. The passing of the royal family sword!" She says as she raises the sword into the air causing another thunderous round of applause to fill the air.

But as Okita looked up, she saw something that was bright red with wings quickly approaching. When she looked carefully, she saw that what was approaching was a Rathalos. A Rathalos that had two people on its back, one of which had dark-blue hair with pale blonde highlights.

'Oh boy, well at least she made it. But did she really have to come riding in on Ratha.' Okita thought. 'Okay, as long as no one sees a bright red Rathalos dive-bombing towards the crowd then maybe,' her thought got cut short when she hears someone in the crowd yells "What is that in the sky?!" causing the entire crowd to look up and start to panic at what was coming.

The Judge Magisters looked as well and saw the Rathalos approaching. They also saw the two passengers that were on it.

"Sigh, why am I not surprised that she chose to come rushing here on that beast?" Ghis said shaking his head in exasperation. "Ha, ha, the young princess at least knows how to make a grand entrance does she not?" Bergan said amused by the spectacle while Drace and Zargabaath just sighed along with Okita and Orion who all shared the same thought.

'That girl sometimes.'

* * *

Meanwhile up in the sky diving towards the stage of the ceremony on the back of pet Rathalos Ratha, Amalia Dalmasca along with her trusted bodyguard and mentor Judge Magister Gabranth were hanging on for dear life (more so Gabranth) as they approached the stage.

"I believe it's safe to assume that the people can clearly see us coming your highness!" Gabranth yelled due to the rush of wind from them diving. "Hah ah yeah, so much for getting here un-noticed huh?" Amalia yelled back while scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

"Well, if they see use already might as well fly in anyway. Ratha change of plans, fly back up then dive onto the stage where my family is standing at okay?" The Rathalos roared in confirmation as he quickly pulled up and began climbing higher. Once they reached the desired height, Ratha quickly dove down to the stage while Amalia screamed "Woooo-Hoooo!"

Meanwhile the crowd watched as red Rathalos dived at the stage that royal family was standing on. Seeing that the crowd looked like they were going to start panicking, both Okita and Orion let out a tired sigh and made their way to the spot where their daughter would be landing at.

"Your majesties, what are you-" Ghis's question was cut short when he and the other Judges saw the Rathalos fast approaching the stage.

When the Rathalos saw the two royals standing at the spot it was going to land at, it quickly began to slow it's descent by rapidly flapping its wings which kicked up a lot of wind. Illya and Ishtar both hung onto Orion so they wouldn't be blown away. Ratha then landed gently onto the stage in front of Okita who walks up and begins petting it.

"Hello Ratha, you look to be doing very well with how you were flying just now." She said as she continued to pet the Rathalos who growled in appreciation.

"Hey Ratha why'd you pull up like that all of a su-dden?" Amalia was about to say until she looked and saw her mother smiling sweetly at her while her left eye brow was twitching.

"O-Oh hey mom, I…I made to the ceremony, just like I said I would. Ha, ha." She laughed nervously. "I can see that dear, and I see you chose to come here in a very exciting way. So where is Gabranth? I'm pretty sure he went off to make sure you got back here." She said innocently which had her daughter sweating a little.

"Y-Your majesty!" Gabranth said climbing off the Ratha's back and quickly bowing to his queen.

Like the rest of the Judge Magisters, he wore the full suite of plate mail armor, horned helmet, and black cape with the kingdom's symbol in green on it. The only difference are the two red dragon heads that were painted on the his armor's shoulder pieces. This showed his states as Royal bodyguard to princess Amalia. On both his hips were his weapons, the longer Chaos Blade and shorter Highway Star, which can combine to form a duel-bladed weapon.

"Calm down Gabranth, if anything I should be the one apologizing to you. Since you had to endure a rather…un-expected experience." Okita said looking to Amailia who was fiddling with her outfit.

Amalia was wearing a long green and blue dress. She had on dark-blue socks with green diamonds and was wearing green boots that stopped at her knees. She had on the same dark-blue gloves as her mother, except instead on strips they had the kingdom's symbol on them in bright green. On her head sat a tiara with an emerald in its center.

"If I may be honest my queen, I am more or less use to the princess's rather... interesting way of getting around problems so to speak." "Sigh, I see. Well interesting ways aside, I thank you for escorting my daughter back here safely, also you can stand back up now Gabranth." "O-Oh, of course." Okita giggled a little as her daughter's bodyguard stood up and took his place next to Zargabaath.

"As you can see everyone, my daughter has a very unique way of showing her appreciation for our kingdom." Orion said walking and standing next to Okita. "She came across this Rathalos one day and helped nurse it back to health. It was so grateful to her for helping, that it wanted to stay with her as her pet." he explained which surprised and amazed the people that their princess would try to help a Rathalos who are known for their fierce nature, all the while Amailia was trying not to laugh at how her father was acting.

'Sure dad, when I first brought Ratha home, Mom, Illya, and Ishtar absolutely adored him. But the minute you both saw each other it was all out war.' She thought internally laughed which ended when she heard her mother calling her.

"Amalia, please step forward to accept the royal family sword please." her mother said.

Amalia hugged Ratha and quickly ran up to her mother and father. When she got to them, her eyes immediately fell on family sword her mother was holding out to her. The Royal family sword known as "Doragon no tamashī", a sword that was crafted from the claws and fangs of a dragon king that fought for the protection of her kingdom. Ever since her mother told her the story of how their kingdom came to be, Amailia has dreamt of the day she would inherit the sword. And now that day was finally here, as she reached her hand to take the sword, her mother pulled it away which surprised her.

"Mom?!" Amalia whined as her mother kept the sword out of her reach. "Now hold on Amailia, I know you've waited and trained a long time for this. But I also need you to understand that taking our family's sword is a big responsibility." "I know, I know already!" she said reaching the sword while Okita still kept it from her. "If it falls into the wrong hands, the universe would be in chaos; do you understand?" "yes, yes, Yes! I know! can I please get it now?! pleasssssseee?!" Amalia begged.

Okita sighed and handed the sword to Amailia who instantly grabbed it. As soon as she did, it glowed and started to change shape. When the glowing stopped, the sword looked completely different than how it did when Okita was holding it.

The sword now had a long blue blade with a white line going down the middle to the base which was a blue opal gem. On the sides had what looked like mini versions of Ratha's wings, except they were dark and light blue. The handle was white with two black diamonds on it and attached at the bottom of it was a black arrow head with a smaller blue gem in it.

"Whoa," Amalia said amazed at the form the sword took when she held it. "It looks so AWSOME! And don't worry mom, I can handle this." She says as she raises the sword into the air and unintentionally fired off a blue magical blast that hit a passing air cab knocking it out of the air causing it to crash into another one, sending it off course towards the crowd who started to panic and scatter as the small air ship crashed in the middle of the area where the crowd was. While the other one slammed into a nearby magicite store which then exploded.

As the royal guard went to work putting out the fires and the crowd dispersed, Okita and Orion looked over at Amailia who was looking back at them nervously.

"I-I guess I need to work on something's with the sword huh? Ha, ha." She said sounding even more nervous as her parents continued to just look at her which also started to worry Illya and Ishtar.

"Sigh, Amailia you-huh?" Orion started but was interrupted when he saw Illya and Ishtar grab him and look up at him with pleading eyes. "Daddy please don't send Big sister away please?" "Yeah, please don't send her to St. Olga's Reform School, we'll never see her again. pleasssssseee?!" They both begged their mother and father who shared a confused look.

Okita picked up Illya while Orion picked up Ishtar.

"Amalia please come over her sweetheart." Okita said and Amailia quickly made her way over to both her parents and siblings. "Okay girls listen, first Amailia we're not sending you to St. Olga's so you and your sisters can calm down." She said to which Amalia let out a breath of relief that she didn't even know she was holding while Illya and Ishtar jumped from their parents into their big sister's arms happily.

"Again you three calm down and let me and your father finish what we're saying." Okita said getting their attention.

"While we're not sending you to St. Olga's Amalia, We still believe you should train to use the sword in a safer dimension." her mother said. "Right, so me and your mother have been looking for a place and we found one that's just right, it's a place called earth." her father said.

"Earth? I've never heard of this dimension before." Amalia said. "I haven't either." Ishtar added. "Oh I've heard of it, teacher Zargabaath told of a dimension where there's no magicks or monsters during one of my lessons." Illya said which surprised her sisters. "I'm going to keep saying this but, Illya my baby sis you are going to be one heck of a royal advisor when you get older." Amalia complimented which made her baby sister very happy.

"So when do I leave for this earth dimension?" she asked.

"After everything settles down around here which shouldn't take too long." Orion said. "So where on earth will I be going too?" "It's a place called Echo Creek, you'll be living with a host family while also attending the school there." her mother explained. "Also Gabranth will be going with you just in case of anything. And if you want ask if it's okay to bring Ratha, he can come too so long as you keep him and yourself out of trouble understood?" Okita said to which Amalia nodded her head excitedly yes.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go tell Gabranth and Ratha, then go start packing." "Right!" Amalia said handing Illya and Ishtar back to her parents and then quickly heading off to tell Gabranth and Ratha, all the while thinking of what could be waiting for her on earth.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay everyone due to Crysky being in the hospital, I'll be taking over the story with help from our beta reader Mario. I don't know if when he gets out we'll go back to him and me switching between chapters, but if not Mario has volunteered to write some chapters.**

 **So I hope you all continue to read the story and please send your condolences to Crysky. Alright, See Ya! ;)**


	2. Chapter 2: Amalia goes to Earth pt2

A/N: Hey everybody! Here we are for the second chapter of this collaboration story. So the first chapter we were introduced to Princess Amalia Dalmasca of the Bahamut Kingdom from the Draclord Dimension. She had just received the royal family sword and just like another princess we all know, she can use very well yet. So her parents are sending her to earth along with her bodyguard/teacher Gabranth and her pet Rathalos Ratha.

Now originally, the next chapter was supposed to switch over to Star and her getting her wand. But Crysky suggested we have Amalia come to earth before Star as a way to switched things up a bit. So this chapter will have Amalia meeting our local safe kid Marco first, then the chapter after this will have Star arriving on earth. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and have a merry Christmas and happy new year.

Disclaimer: SVTFOE is the property of Ms. Daron Nefcy. But Princess Amailia is a character of my creation

 **Chapter 2: Princess Amalia comes to Earth Pt.2**

 **(Draclord Dimension, Bahamut Kingdom)**

"Okay, that should be the last of the fires. Good work everyone." Orion said thanking the Royal Guard for their help in putting out the fires. "There's no need to thanks us you majesty, it is our sworn duty as the Royal family's protectors to lend our aid in any way possible." The guard captain said standing at attention to the king as did the other knights.

"Okay, Okay. While I appreciate the dedication you're showing as does the rest of my family, you don't have to be that high strung about it. Remember, while you are all proud knights of the kingdom, you are also trusted friends and family as well. If you have a problem you can't resolve on your own, then don't be afraid to share it with your fellow knights, your superiors, or even me and Okita understood?"

"O-Of course your majesty!" The captain and other knights said feeling honored to be able to serve two astounding rulers such as Queen Okita and King Orion.

"Then your majesty, if I may… ask you a question then?" one of the knights said taking a hesitant step forward. "Sure go ahead and ask." Orion said. "Well you majesty, I was just… curious as to what you and her Highness plan on doing concerning what happened with Princess Amalia?" he asked which caused a few of his fellow knights to look at him as if he had just asked the most stupidest question of his life.

"Sigh right… that," Orion said massaging his eyes. "F-Forgive me your majesty! I mean no disrespect! I was just concerned is all. I apologize if I've over-stepped my place!" the knight said in in a hurried voice. "No, no it's okay. I can't blame you for being worried about what happened with my daughter's… accident earlier." He said scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "And to answer your question my friend, Okita and myself have chosen to send our daughter somewhere safe where she can learn and train to use the family sword to its full potential." Orion explained. "M-My lord? This place wouldn't happen to be that reform school for wayward princesses would it?" the captain asked. "Because, in all honest your majesty, that place is not the most… friendly when it comes to someone of the princess's… "Unique" nature." The guard captain said with a couple of the other knights murmuring in agreement.

"Sigh, I'm going to guess and say that my younger daughters Illyasviel and Ishtar have spoken about that most of you here?" Orion said with most of them nodding their heads.

"Those two," Orion said letting out a tired breath. "Okay first off, Queen Okita and I were already talking about possible places that would be safe for Amailia, we had no intentions of sending her to St. Olga's right off the back. Now second, Amalia will be going to a place talked Earth along with Judge Magister Gabranth as her guard." He said to the relief of a few knights who were glad that the princess was not being sent to St. Olga's if it was as horrifying a place as Princess Illyasviel and Princess Ishtar made it out to be.

"So when is the princess expected to leave for earth your majesty?" The guard captain asked. "As soon as she believes she's packed enough for the trip; she'll be leaving for earth today." Orion said getting a surprised look from the captain. "That soon my lord?" "Well we had originally planned to tell her about it and let her decide if she wished to go. But after her little 'accident' not too long ago," he trailed off looking around at the damage from the fires.

"If it's any consolation my lord, the princess seemed very excited about going. I believe she would've chosen to go even if the accident didn't happen." The knight from before said. "I'd have to agree with you there, I haven't seen her eyes sparkle like that since she was 7 when Okita and I said she could train to be a mystic knight. I still remember the time during one of her training lessons she tried casting a water enhancing spell on her training sword. Next thing I know, she soaked head to toe." Orion said laughing a little which actually got the captain and the knights to laugh as well.

"You're Majesty?" A voice called from behind. Orion turns around and sees Bergan and Ghis approaching.

"Hey you two, how's everything going?" "Aside from trying to getting that overgrown Wyvern to stay still while her Highness performs the spell to decrease its size, no other troubles to report." Ghis said with a hint of irritation.

"Well it's a blow to the creature's pride Ghis. How would you feel if you were part of a race of dragons who are known as the 'Kings of the Skies' only to have that title soon mean nothing due to having your great size diminished?" Bergan said. "It's merely its size that it's losing, it's not as if her Highness is stripping it of its wings or its flame breath." Ghis argued back.

"Alright so besides Ratha being upset that he won't be as big as he is going to earth, how are Amalia and Gabranth coming along?" Orion asked to try and steer the conversation from a possible argument between the two Judges.

"Gabranth has his things already and prepared on the ship. Princess Amalia however seems to be trying to pack her whole room into her suitcases." Ghis said. "Oh boy, alright I'll be right there. Captain, you and your men are dismissed now." Orion said receiving a "Yes, your Majesty" from the Guard Captain and knights as he left with Bergan and Ghis.

However, unbeknownst to them, four shadowy figures had been listing to everything that was said from an alleyway.

"Hmm, what did I tell you lot? It's just as I said, I knew they'd send that girl off somewhere away from the kingdom." A pirate-like voice said.

"Aye but brother, the girl will have that Judge and her pet along with her. How do you plan to do about them?" another voice asked this one sounding more feminine but still with the pirate way of speaking.

"Aye the girl on her own would be no trouble, but with that Judge and Rathalos… we'd be walking to an early grave we would." A third voice said followed by the sound of an armored hand hitting something as the third voice cried out.

"That's why the thinking is left to me and not you. Now come on the lot of you," the first voice said as the four figures skulked away.

* * *

Inside the castle, Amalia was in her room still packing whatever she could fit into her forth suitcase for her trip to earth. When she got to her room she quickly changed out of the dress she was wearing and put something else on.

She was now wearing a white long sleeve shirt with the collar tied with a blue ribbon under a black vest and blue checkered mini skirt. She was also wearing black leather below-the-knee boots with blue soles. On both her ears were a pair of light-blue earrings. Their lower halves are comprised of a long, thin, triangular spike with two more, slanted spikes on either side of this larger one. There are two small, circular, dark-blue and cyan gems set in the upper half of the main spikes. Two serpentine dragons with their wings raised are perched on the top of the largest spikes. On her hips were two medium-sized pouches.

"Okay, let's see here, I've already got all the clothes I want to bring with me packed, I made sure to carry some extra magicite as well, and I also have the my pair of dimensional scissors in case I need to come back home or if I get bored and want to go somewhere." She says pulling out a pair of scissors that have a green handle with a dark-blue pearl in the middle.

'Hopefully mom and dad don't find out about the trouble I had to go through to get these.' She thought as she put the scissors away in one of her hip pouches.

Amailia then turns to her room door at the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Who's there?" she asks. "It's me sweetie," Orion said sticking his head in. "Oh hey dad, did you need something? Cause I'm still packing here." "I can see that," He said looking at the three suitcases that were by the door. "How's the rest of it going?" "Pretty good so far. I just have this last suitcase and I should be done. Only I can't figure out what else I might need." She said focusing on what she might need to bring with her. "I've packed my clothes, tooth brush, a few summoning stone, my enchanted daggers," she listed off. "Uh Amailia? I… don't think you'll need summoning stones or daggers on earth. We wouldn't be sending you there if it wasn't safe." "Dad? Weren't you the one that said "you can never be too prepared for anything"?" she said flashing her father a knowing grin.

"Sigh alright, you can bring them. But, only use them in case of emergency got it?" "I got." She said right as a female servant knocked on the door and entered.

"Excuse me your Highnesses, the ship is ready and the Queen and Judge Magister Gabranth are waiting at the front gate. But they appear to be have trouble calming down your Rathalos Princess Amailia. It seems very irritated and won't enter the cargo holding of the ship." The servant said.

"Oh right, Ghis did say that Ratha was a bit upset about having his size decreased. Something about hurting his pride or something?" He said trying to remembering what Ghis and Bergan told him earlier. "Well Rathalos are part of the first generation of dragons dad. And next to the elder dragons, the second strongest species in our dimension. So you can't blame Ratha for acting like that." "I'm not blaming him, I just wish he'd calm down so that you can get going to earth." Orion said.

Amalia looked at the suitcase for a second before her eyes widened.

"Hey dad, I think I know what I want to pack and bring with me." Amalia said smiling. "You do?" "Yeah, can you go meet up with Mom and the others while I go take care of something? It won't take long." She said darting out the room passed the servant.

"O-kay then," Orion said walking over and grabbing two of the suitcases. "I hope you don't mind but could you help by carrying down my daughter's suitcase while I bring these two?" He asks and receives a small laugh from the servant.

"Not at all you majesty," she says grabbing the other suitcase as she and Orion make their way to the castle front gate.

* * *

 **(Dalmasca Castle, Front Gate)**

Queen Okita along with Ishtar, Illya, and Gabranth were standing by a blue and green Atomos carrier ship that would be bringing Amailia to earth. However right now, the four were watching a couple of knights trying to get a now medium-large and very aggravated Ratha into the ship's cargo holding **.(A/N: just think of the size as the same from Monster hunter stories okay?)**

"Ratha sounds really upset Mommy." Illya said sadly. "Yeah, I haven't seen him this mad since he and dad fought over the time he knocked over that statue." Ishtar added. "Well girls, compared to that little fight they had that time, this may be a bit more problematic. I knew Ratha wouldn't like having his size decreased but… sigh, I didn't think it would upset him this much; poor thing." Okita said wishing she didn't have to reduce the Ratha's size. But knowing how people on earth would react to a giant wyvern, what other choice did she have.

"Waah!" one knights yelled as he fell to the ground after Ratha knocked him back in frustration.

Ishtar quickly ran over to the knight to see if he was hurt.

"Are you okay?!" she asked worriedly. "I-I'm fine princess. Please stay back so you don't get hurt." The knight said as he got back up to help the others get the enraged Rathalos into the hold.

"IF YOU GUYS KEEP PUSHING RATHA LIKE THAT, HE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE YOU'RE GOING TO BE DEALING WITH!" Everyone turned around at the sound of yelling and saw Amailia calmly walking towards them carrying a suitcase in her hand while the Royal sword was strapped to her back.

"Princess Amalia! Please let us handle this. Your Rathalos is in a very aggressive state right now and-"

"AND you guys forcing him into the ship's cargo hold is only aggravating him more. Now MOVE. A. SIDE." She said in a very dangerous tone.

The group of knights quickly moved out of the way so that Amalia could walk up to Ratha. When she saw her Rathalos friend, she did notice that while he wasn't as large as his regular size, he still seemed big enough to ride. Only now it seems like he could only hold two people instead of several.

'Okay, that's not as small as I thought mom was going to shrink him to. He still looks like I can ride him and maybe two more people,' she thought as she stood in front of Ratha and set the suitcase down on the ground.

"Hey Ratha, it's okay boy. It's me, and look I brought you something," Amalia said soothingly as she opened the suitcase and took out an old looking iron shield and held it out to Ratha.

"Mommy? Isn't that shield," Illya started to ask before she, Ishtar, Okita, Gabranth, and the group of knights saw Ratha and Amailia start playing tug of war with the old shield.

"H-hey! Hand it over, you're not going to beat me after all this time scale face!" she said playfully as she tried to wrestle the shield from the winged wyvern who pulled back just as playfully.

This only last 3 minutes when Ratha let go of the shield causing Amalia to fall flat on her butt in defeat laughing along with her mother and sisters.

"We haven't played that since my training started when I was six, and you still beat me like it's nothing." She said remembering the first time they played like that as Ratha started cuddling up to her face.

"Well big sis, you may have gotten stronger as you got older, but Ratha has been getting stronger too. He's not the same baby Rathalos you helped back then anymore, just like how I'm not that same crybaby you knew." Ishtar said confidently.

"But you still talk way too much my little sister, which is one thing that hasn't changed about you which I am glad for." Amalia said smirking as her little sister glared at her while the others tried not to laugh out loud.

"Um, did we miss something here?" Orion said as he and the servant from before came walking up with Amalia's other three suitcases.

"Nothing that warrants worry my lord, do you need any help with those?" Gabranth asked seeing that his king was struggling. "No need Gabranth, I've got it under… well maybe you could take this one right here please? He asked/begged.

Gabranth walked over and took the suitcase from Orion's left hand and carried it over to the Atomos's passenger door and placed it close to where Amailia would be sitting. Orion and the female servant soon came in after placing the other two down as well.

"Phew, okay, that's done. So what happened here? I thought Ratha was upset about his size getting cut in half." Orion asked walking up to Okita. "He was, but it seems like our daughter reminded him that even though he is slightly smaller, he's still the king of the skies to her." She said as she and Orion look as Ratha licked Amailia's face, then walked into the cargo hold.

Amalia along with Gabranth soon walked over to her mother, father, and sisters.

"Well… I guess this is goodbye for a while you guys," she said. Illya soon ran over and raised her arms up. Amailia smiled, picked her up and gave her a big hug.

"Make sure to write me a letter when you get there, promise?" "I promise Illya." She said as she set her baby sister back down. She then looked over to Ishtar who was still sulking from earlier and had her back turned to her. "Oh come on now, are you really not going to say goodbye to your big sister? Now I feel like you don't even care about me anymore." She said in a fake hurt voice.

Ishtar turned around, walked over to Amailia, and stuck her arms out not looking up at her. Amalia then bent down and hugged Ishtar tightly who soon returned it just as tight.

"When you come back home, you better bring me back a souvenir from earth," she whispered. "Okay, I promise to find something you'll like."

The two soon separated as Ishtar walked back to their mother and father.

"Ah, looks like we came just in time thankfully." They all looked and saw Bergan, Ghis, Drace, and Zargabaath coming towards them.

"Apologies Princess, we would have been here sooner to see you off, but other matters kept us away." Zargabaath said apologetically. "It's alright, I'm just glad you could make it is all. What? Did Ghis get his cape caught on something?" she said jokingly.

"I do hope you remember you are representing the kingdom as its princess, lady Amalia." Ghis said in a lecturing voice. "Aww, I'll miss you too." She said half-jokingly before turning to look at Bergan and Drace.

"Drace, please keep watching over Ishtar while I'm gone. And Bergan, make sure you keep the title of strongest Judge Magister, I want to be the one who takes it from you when I get back." She said pointing at him boastfully.

"I shall guard Princess Ishtar with my life if need be," Drace said. Bergan draws one of his swords and plunges it into the ground. He then kneels on one knee and bows his head to Amailia. "I swear on my blade to hold onto the title of the "strongest" Judge Magister upon your return princess." He says before standing back up and re-sheathing his sword. "Hmph, that's what I wanted to hear," she said smiling before looking over to Zargabaath.

"I… know I don't need to say this, given how many times I tell you this. But I'm saying anyway, I'm trusting you to make Illya the smartest person in all of Draclord. Got that?" she said locking her gaze on his helm. "While I cannot be certain, I can promise you princess Amailia, that I will do everything within my power as Judge Magister for princess Illyasviel in your absence." Zargabaath says bowing slightly to Amalia who was smiling hearing the devotion in his words.

Finally, Amailia looks to her mother and father who both had smiles on their faces.

"Mom, Dad, I- huh?" Amalia suddenly felt her father tousling her hair. "Make sure to take care of yourself while on earth. And at least try not to cause too much trouble okay?" Orion said smiling. Amalia was a bit surprised, but smiled back. "Got it Dad," she said winking at him as he took his hand off her head as Okita walked up to them holding a book.

"Amalia, take this with you," she says holding the book out to Amalia. It was a large dark-green book with golden runic symbols on the spine. On the front cover was a depiction of a dragon head with two swords that were crossed together below it in gold as well.

"What this book mom?" Amalia asked as she took the book. "This is the Dragon's Chronicle. Ever since the birth of our kingdom, each member of our family that has inherited the family sword has written their own technique or spell within this book." Okita explained. "Now I'm giving it to you to help with your training while on earth. Of course, you'll also have Gabranth with you as well," she said looking to said Judge Magister who bowed to her.

"Whoa! So does this mean I get to write my own spells and sword techniques in it too?!" Amalia asked excitedly. "What? No! I'm giving you the book so you can practice to better use the sword." "Man… Okay then." She said a little bummed out until she felt her mother envelope her in a sudden hug.

"Good luck, my little dragon star." Okita said using the nickname she called her daughter when she was four. Amailia hugged her back tightly. "Thanks mom."

After all their goodbyes were said and done, Amalia and Gabranth entered the Atomos carrier. It then began to lift off the ground and float in place.

"Ghis, open the portal please. Yes your Highness," Ghis then drew his sword and slashed the space in front of the carrier creating a large diamond-shaped red and blue portal. The carrier soon pulled forward, until it completely disappeared into the portal.

* * *

 **(Earth, Echo creek)**

The Atomos soon exits the portal, over a city.

"Oooh, so this is earth right?" Amalia asks looking down at the city below. "Yes princess, this is where will be for our time here." Gabranth said as the carrier flew down towards the city. More specifically, Echo Creek Academy the school Amalia will be attending.

* * *

 **(Echo Creek Academy)**

Once the Atomos landed at the school, Gabranth and Amalia made their way to the principal's office to meet with Principal Edwin Bonner-Skeeves, the current principle of the school.

He was a short, stout, and balding man with light brown hair, brown eyes, black eyebrows, and a small black mustache. He wore glasses with black square rims, a dark gray suit with a light purple undershirt, a purple bow tie, and dark gray dress shoes. He was currently sitting behind his office desk while Gabranth stood in front of him.

"Hmm, so your miss… Amalia Dalmasca's legal guardian. A Mr. Gabranth?" he asked looking over Amalia's student transcript that he received. "That's right sir, I believe you will-"Gabranth was interrupted by the sound of something clicking and the lights flashing. The two males look to see that Amailia was flicking the light switch in curiosity.

"Hmm, I'm amazed that people have working lights here and don't have to worry about mimics syphoning it off. I'm also curious that the power can be turned on and off by just this switch here, I bet Illya doesn't know about this." She said very intrigued.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if this going to work Mr. Gabranth," Skeeves said getting ready to ask them both to leave.

But before he could, Gabranth pulled out a brown sack that he had strapped on his hip. He then placed it on the desk, and opened it to reveal that it was filled with gold coins, rubies, sapphires, and many other exquisite gems. Skeeves's eyes flashed with dollars signs in them when he saw the sack filled with expensive jewels.

"Welcome to Echo Creek Academy miss Dalmasca! I know you're going to love it here!" He said joyfully while Amalia continued to play with the switch as Gabranth sighed tiredly.

"She'll need someone to help guide her around this school, as well as make sure she stays out of trouble. I trust you have a student here who can handle that?" He asked. "Why of course. In fact, I have just the student for the job." The principal says as he presses the button of the PA system.

Meanwhile inside one of the school's classrooms, while the teacher Ms. Skullnick, a heavyset middle-aged woman with creamed-colored skin, faded red hair that was styled to resemble horn, and black eyes was painting her toe nails, the students were sitting at their desk. Some were either sleeping on their desks or staring out into space not sure of what to do.

Except for one student who was writing down what was written on the blackboard.

This student was a boy who was around 14 yrs. old. He was a Latino-American of medium height and had a slender build with tan skin, brown eyes, dark-brown hair, and a mole on his right cheek. He was wearing a grey shirt, a red hoodie, dark grey skinny jeans and olive and white sneakers.

"Marco Diaz, to the principal's office. Marco Diaz, to the principal's office." Skeeves said over the PA system. The now named Marco looked up at his named being called, but then soon had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Well looks like someone's in trouble over here. I'm guessing everyone who voted me the "safe kid" must be feeling pretty silly right now huh?" he said sounding very confident as he made his way up to Skullnick's desk. "Am I going to need a hall pass?" He asked not wanting to get in trouble.

"Would you just go already!" Skullnick said angrily which had Marco quickly making his way out the classroom.

Marco soon found principal Skeeves near the lockers looking into a brown sack until he saw him walking up to him.

"Marco my boy, I'd like you to meet our new foreign exchange student, Amalia Dalmasca." He said. Marco looked up from Skeeves to see a girl with dark-blue hair that had pale-blonde streaks in it wearing what looked like a vocalist's outfit. She didn't seem to notice him as she looked to be more fascinated with the water fountain as when she pressed the button to make the water flow out, here golden eyes sparkled in amazement.

"Um huh?" Marco said confused.

"I need a responsible type of person to keep an eye on her, and who better than you our local safe kid." Skeeves said slapping him on the back. "What?! No no no, I'm not the person for this kind of thing. I'm a misunderstood bad boy." Marco said folding his arms like he's a bad boy.

"Aww, aren't you an adorable one," Amalia said suddenly appearing in front of Marco which greatly surprised him that he fell to the floor which also made her laugh a little.

"Well if you'll both excuse me, there's a 52 scoop ice cream cone with my name on it. You two have fun with the tour." Skeeves said darting off to the ice cream shop, leaving Marco with Amalia.

"Soooo, are we starting this tour soon or?" Amalia asks offering her hand to Marco. "Yeah sure," he said taking her as she pulled him up.

Soon after, Marco and Amalia were walking through the halls passed other students who were getting things out of their lockers or just talking with each other. All the while, Marco had an annoyed look on his face as Amalia was looking around at everything that caught her attention.

"Thanks again for showing me around this place um… safe kid was it?" Amalia asked as her attention was quickly diverted to something else. "W-what?! Okay first off, whatever you heard about me was wrong," Marco said while Amalia was busy looking at a group of girls that were all wearing the same orange skirted clothes in curiosity as she continued to follow behind him. "I just don't get where everyone got the idea that I'm so safe, oh watch your step there loose tile," Marco said pointing to the floor as Amalia stepped to the side. "It's ridiculous, careful open locker," he said closing the locker before he continued walking with Amalia behind him. " I mean you wear a helmet in gym shower on time and people instantly label you for life, oh watch out broken glass," he says stepping over a shattered bottle while sliding Amalia around it. "You know what I'm talking right?" he asks looking back at her.

"Oh yeah, can't imagine where'd people get this crazy notion that you're so safe." She said with a hint of sarcasm in it, though Marco couldn't hear it.

"At least someone gets me. Frankly, I wouldn't mind taking some risks and welcoming a little danger into my life." Marco said confidently which gave Amalia an idea as she started to look for something in her left skirt pouch.

"Uh, what are you looking for?" "Ah-ha!" she proclaimed pulling out what looked like a tiny green jar. "What's that tiny jar for?" Marco asked a little cautiously. "Hey is there something nearby that gives off electricity?" Amalia asked ignoring Marco's question completely. "Well we are standing behind an electrical outlet," he said turning the dark-blue haired girl around and pointed to the small outlet near the floor. "But why do you need to-"

"okay, I can work with that," she said walking to the outlet then kneeling down and holding the little jar in front of it.

Marco looked over Amalia's shoulder to see what she was doing, when the tiny green jar started to move a little. "What is it-" Marco was about to say, until the tiny jar suddenly flipped up and turned into what looked like a four-legged mechanical bug that quickly latched onto the outlet.

"We might want to back up right about now," Amalia said as she and Marco backed away as the tiny robot bug began to grow bigger.

In only a few short minutes, the tiny mechanical four legged insect grew to the size of a large dog. It turned around and screeched at Marco who quickly hide behind Amalia as the creature hurried after a random student who saw it coming and started running for his life as it gave chase.

"What in the world was that thing?!" Marco asked in a panicked voice. "Oh crud, that was a baby battery mimic that I remembered fell asleep in my bag one time. I decide to give it a jump start since a certain someone here said they'd welcome a little danger into their life." Amalia said giving Marco a knowing look while smirking at him with her arms folded.

Marco slowly turns his head and looks at Amalia suspiciously.

"Who are you?" he asked backing away a little.

"Hmph, my name is Amalia Dalmasca," Amalia then draws her sword and plunges it into the ground in front of her. "Princess of Bahamut Kingdom of the Draclord Dimension." She announced as a blue see through image of a dragon with white flames along its back flew from the gem of her sword and floated behind her. The flames soon started to spread on everything around her as Marco looked with his mouth hung open.

"Well," Marco begins with a clap of his hands. "This brings us to the end of our tour. I'm going home now." He said walking away with a toothy smile.

"Oh, okay then. I guess I'll see you around then, later." Amalia said waving goodbye as she saw Marco pull his hood up and quickly run away. She then felt something vibrating in her left pouch. She dung her hand inside and pulled out her portable mirror phone.

"Hello? Oh hey Gabranth. Uh-ha, yeah the tour was great. I think I made my first friend here on earth." She said excitedly. "Oh, you're with the host family we'll be living with right now? Mm-hm, yeah I can get there on my own, just give me the address and I'll be there in no time." She said re-sheathing her sword on her back as Gabranth told her where to go while the fire speared about behind her.

* * *

Marco felt so tired after having to run as far away as he could from the new girl he met today.

"What the heck... was with that girl today?" he said as he walked up to the front door of his house. As soon as he opens the door and walks in, he looks up and sees to both his surprise and horror that the same girl he ran away from earlier, was in his house right now laughing with his mom and dad.

"Oh Marco, come meet the new foreign exchange student and her guardian who are going to be living with us." his mother said cheerfully.

"Huh? W-What? Hold on, wait, guardian?" Marco stammered his brain feeling like it was about to overload itself. "Oh right, I didn't tell you about him yet." Amalia said already having walked over to the stunned Latino boy and walked him over to his parents with her arm around his shoulder. "Hey Gabranth, come here and meet Mr. and Mrs. Diaz's son, he's the one who showed me around the school." she called out.

No sooner after that, did Marco's eyes widen in panic as a person wearing a suit of armor with a horned helmet and black cape walked into the living room from the kitchen.

"Ah, so you're the young man the principal spoke highly of," the knight said as he proceeded to take his helmet off. When he did, he was shown to have short blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"My apologies if the princess gave you any trouble during her time with you." "Hey! What the heck is that supposed to mean?!" Amalia said a bit offended by her mentor's remark.

"Won't it be nice to have Amalia's daring and adventurous energy around the house?" Mrs. Diaz said smiling along with her husband.

"If we wanted adventurous we could have gotten a litter of puppies or a dog." Marco said sarcastically. "Well he may not be a litter of puppies or a dog, but I bet Ratha could be just as adventurous." Amalia said assuredly confusing Marco a bit.

"That will have to wait princess. Before you called for me, I was busy with making sure his sleeping quarters were taken care of. Again I must apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your assistance Mr. Diaz."

"Ah ha, it's no trouble at all Senor Gabranth, it was first for me to help put together something that big." Mr. Diaz said shaking the man's hand. While Marco was wondering what his father was talking about.

"Marco, why don't you show Amalia her new room?" His mother asked him. Marco just sighed and made his way over to grab one of Amalia's suitcases.

"Ah hold up there Marco, I'll carry that one up myself. Can you grab the other two for me?" "Oh, uh sure," Marco then moves to grab the other two suitcases while Amalia grabs the other one and hurries up stairs to see her room, all the while Marco is struggling to drag the other two up.

While outside the house spying from a tree, a lizard-like person with dark-green scaly skin, long face and ears on each side of his head wearing purple pants was watching them.

"So the princess's pet and bodyguard are preoccupied huh? Hmm, brother should find this very useful." The lizard person said pulling out a pair of black scissor with a spiky dark-green handle then cutting open a diamond-shaped putrid-green portal and jumping in.

* * *

 **(Draclord Dimension, Bhujerba)**

Deep within the Lhusu Mines of Bhujerba, a three person group of lizard-like people called Bangaa a race native to Draclord, were discussing something when a portal opened up in front of them and the lizard person from before came through.

"Well Gijuk? What did ye find?" A green-skinned bangaa with small yellow patterns asked. He also had piercings along his ears and his chin, brown eyes and, a thick lizard-like tail. He wore a protective armor plate over his snout and more protective gear around the back of his neck and over his chest. The plate over the back of his neck is spiked. He was wearing brown baggy trousers and no shoes. He also had armor on his forearms and hands.

" You were right brother, they've hidden the girl in that earth dimension we heard the king talking about. And seems like her guard and pet are not with her at the moment." The now named Gijuk said which caused a dark smile to spread on the green bangaa's long snout.

"Perfect. Bwagi, Rinok," he called as the other two bangaas walked up to them. "Gather the others, we be heading for earth soon." The two nodded and went off to gather the other members of their crew. "Once we have the sword, I'll show that excuse of an older brother of ours what he could have had if he'd stayed instead of chasing after some trinket." He mumbled angrily.

* * *

Back on Earth, Marco was showing Amalia the room she'd be staying in while he dragged her two suitcases in.

"Here's… your new room, finally." He said tiredly as he placed her suitcases against the wall. "Hmm okay then, I'll need to change this place a bit to suit my style." Amalia said drawing her sword and plunging it into the floor as the blue gem in it started to glow.

 **"ROWDY WHIRLWIND REDECORATION!"** she yelled and then quickly pulled the sword out of the ground and raised it creating a blinding flash of light. When it died down, the two were now standing in a four floor castle loft.

The first level had Amalia's bed which was a canopy bed with blue curtains. It also had a closet for her clothes, a work desk, couch, and a dresser that had pictures of her family and friends. On the walls which were a light blue color, were different kinds of swords and lances as well as a interdimensional mirror. There were also a few posters of random rock bands as well. To the far left was a spiral staircase that lead to the upper floors of the loft.

"Whoa," Marco said amazed at both the size and look of the room. "Now I feel more at home here," Amalia said laying back on her bed contently. "Yeah, I wish I had a room like this." "Really now? Because I could do the same thing for your room too," She said dashing down the hall with Marco quickly following behind after he realized what he just said.

When they reach Marco's room, Amalia raised her sword and said **"Black Hole Bunker Bomb!"** and a black and purple hole appeared on the floor and quickly began sucking up everything in the room. The two quickly back out of room and close the door.

"A BLACK HOLE?! WHY WAS THE WORD BLACK HOLE IN THAT SPELL?!" Marco exclaims angrily. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't really thinking when I cast it." Amalia said sadly as Marco groaned in frustration and pressed his face up against the door. "I'm really sorry about your room Marco. Um… oh I know, how about a little friend to cheer you up?" Amalia slightly waves her sword summoning a mini blue orb with fairy wings that flutters around Marco. But it soon starts to grow until it explodes and soaks him with water.

"That's it! If your moving in, then I'm moving out!" Marco says stomping passed Amalia to climb out the window. However his foot slipped and fell into the bed of cacti that was under the window.

"Are you okay Marco?" Amalia called from the window. "Yeah, thankfully the cacti broke my fall here." "Do you need any help?" She asked timidly. "I'm fine, just stay away from me okay?!" Marco then storms off from the house leaving Amalia to debate whether or not to go after him.

Amalia runs down stairs to get Gabranth to help her go after Marco. But when she enters the living room, she only found Mrs. Diaz there reading a book on the couch.

"Amalia dear, is something wrong?" She asked seeing the troubled look on the young girl's face.

"Um, do you know where Gabranth is right now Mrs. Diaz?" "Oh, he said he wanted to help Rafael with dinner tonight, so the two of them left for the supermarket a while ago. Did you need him for something?" "N-No, not really. If you'll excuse me now mam," Amalia says quickly makes her through the kitchen to the back door. She opens it and see her next best idea sleeping in a large nest.

Later that night, Marco is standing outside a convenience store called Stop & Slurp.

"Hey, excuse me sir?" he says as he sees a guy wearing a purple hoodie and red cap approaching." Can you do me a favor and refill this for me please?" he asks holding a cup out to the guy who completely ignores him and continues into the store. "They won't let me back in because I'm soaking wet here." He mumbles. He then sees a women and her son coming out of the store. "Mam? can I ask you for a favor?" But the woman quickly starts running saying "Don't make eye contact" to her child. Marco sighed in defeat as he took a bite of the candy bar he managed to buy before the store clerk told him to leave.

"Hey there," a voice said causing Marco to jump in surprise. He looks to his left and sees Amalia standing there.

"What are you doing here?" He asks her. Amalia doesn't say anything, but points her sword at Marco. It then glows with a green light as she gentle swings it up, then back down. Marco then starts glowing with the same green light and before he knew it he was completely dried off.

"Look, I didn't get to choose whether or not to come to earth. And you didn't get to choose whether or not you wanted to deal with me." She said in an apologetic voice. "I'll see if I can talk to my parents and find another family to stay with while I'm here. That way you don't have to worry about me causing you anymore problems. So, even though it was brief, it was nice to meet you Marco." she said with a sad smile on her face which made Marco start to regret how he treated her when they met.

"Hey listen, maybe I-"

"So this where ye got to a girl?" A guttural, Scottish-like voice said interrupting what Marco was going to say.

The two teens turned around and saw a large group of Bangaa had gathered behind them. One of them presumably the leader of the group, came to the front wielding a large spinning saw.

"Ye thought you slipped away from me by coming here? Ha, still the same scared little one from back then huh?" "Ba'Gamnan! How did you know I was here?" Amalia growled glaring at the green scaled lizard. "Ha, who cares, what I do know is that sword of yours will be mine soon. Get her!" Ba'Gamnan commanded as the group behind him charged at the two teens.

Amalia held her sword at the ready as two red Bangaa both charged at her. But suddenly, Marco jumped in front of her and performed a jumping sweep kick that knocked the first one back, then followed up with a jumping axe kick that knocked the second one out cold.

"Holy crap! You can fight?!" Amalia asked both surprised and excited. "It's called Karate!" Marco says as he karate chops a blue-skinned bangaa that came charging towards them in the side of the head knocking it out.

Amalia ran out front as a grey skinned bangaa wielding a spear came running towards her. She quickly brought her sword up and block an overhead strike, then did a front flip kick to his head which dazed him long enough for her to send him flying back with a blast from her sword.

Marco was busy fighting a green and red skinned Bangaa, one using a sword and the other fighting bare-handed. The green one wielding the sword came at him with a horizontal slash, but Marco ducked underneath it and performed a swift uppercut forcing him to stumble back. The red one tried catching Marco off-guard by whipping his tail at him, but Marco saw it coming and grabbed the tail before it could hit him. He then swung him around before sending him flying into the his partner.

Ba'Gamnan was furious and grabbed Gijuk by one of his ears.

"I thought you said she was un-guarded?!" He growled angrily. "S-She was brother! I had no idea that the boy with her could fight." Gijuk said in a frightened voice as more of the group were getting their tails handed to them.

Marco did a jumping split kick and knocked out to dark-blue bangaas while Amalia dodged and blocked incoming spear jabs and sword slashes. She then jumped off the head of a light-green Bangaa into the air. She then held the sword in a reverse-grip and shouted **"Crystal Comet Crasher!"** Then four large red, blue, yellow and green gems appeared around Amalia as she swung the sword launching the gemstones at the Ba'Gamnan's crew send a couple of them flying into light post and some parked cars.

Ba'Gamnan jumped out of the way as one of his henchmen flew into the wall behind him.

"IDIOTS! Get up and fight back! there's only two of them!" He yelled before a sky rending roar was heard causing everyone to stop and look up to the sky.

"Ah, what is that?!" Marco said pointing to the sky as he and everyone else saw something diving towards them at high speed. "That Marco would be our backup coming to join in." Amalia said grinning as she knew who was coming.

The flying object soon landed kicking up a huge dust cloud forcing everyone to cover their eyes. When the dust settled, Marco was the first one to un-cover his eyes and see what had landed in front of him and Amailia. What he saw made his eyes widen as he saw a medium-large bipedal dragon that was bright red and had a spiky club-like tail.

"W-Wha... w-who?" Marco stammered out.

"Marco allow me to introduce you to Ratha," Amailia said as the now named Ratha roared which blew a few bangaas back. "Okay Ratha, why don't we show Marco the new trick I taught you!" Amalia said as she grabbed Marco and hopped on Ratha's back as he roared and flew towards Ba'Gamnan and his henchmen before quickly climbing upward into the sky.

"What's he doing?! I thought he was going to ram into those guys!" Marco yelled as he hung onto Amalia while Ratha continued to climb higher. "Wait for it... okay now Ratha!" Amailia yelled as Ratha stopped in mid-air and folded his wings in. Flames soon started to gather around them and increase. "Hang on tight Marco!" Amailia said and Marco quickly did as Ratha suddenly dived, his foot cloaked in flames as he dove down at the group of bangaas.

As soon as Ratha's flaming foot hit where the group was standing, a column of fire erupted sending them all flying. Ratha soon jumped out of the flaming pillar with Amailia and Marco on his back safe and un-burned.

Ba'Gamnan looked around at his defeated henchmen and slammed his saw blade on the ground until it broke off.

"So, still think I'm the same scared little girl from before Ba'Gamnan?" Amalia said smirking with Ratha and Marco next to her.

"Confound you! That sword will be mine soon enough girl! fall back, Now!" Ba'Gamnan ordered as he opened a portal with the same scissors Gijuk used before as he and his henchmen retreated into it.

"That was amazing! I was amazing! You two were amazing!" Marco said thrilled about the fight they just had. "Yeah, I guess we did make a pretty cool team. Right Ratha?" Amalia asked as Ratha nuzzled her. She then turned and smiled at Marco who was also looking back at her and Ratha with a smile of his own.

"Well come on Ratha, we should probably go tell Gabranth about finding us a different family to live with." She said sadly as she started to walk away with Ratha. "Wait hold on," Marco says quickly stopping the two from going any farther. "I'm sorry about the way things went. I don't want you leave, I'd like it if you stayed with me and my family." He says putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Really?" She says a little hopeful. "Yes, really." "Yes! come her you!" Amalia them puts Marco in a playful headlock and gives him a friendly noogie. She then lets him go as Ratha comes up and licks his face happily.

"So are we going to be fighting guys like those lizard people all the time?" "Hmm, more than likely yeah." "Yes! Now that sounds dangerous." Marco says excited about the possible other fights he'll be getting into with Amalia.

"Well, we should be getting back home now. We don't want to worry your bodyguard too much." "True, Gabranth can be a bit over-protective." Amalia says hopping on Ratha's back. "We're riding your dragon?" Marco asked. "Technically, Ratha's a Rathalos a type of winged wyvern, but he is part of the first generation of dragons. Now come," She said holding her hand out as Marco grabbed it and climbed on as they took off back to Marco's place.

* * *

 **A/N: Second chapter now up! The next chapter was written by Crysky before the accident, so it's a little on the short side. But still, look forward to it please?**


	3. Chapter 3: The Sword and the Wand meet

**So… crysky is offline for personal reasons that I don't feel I should reveal without permission. I have taken over his contributions to the story and edited this chapter (they had written it already) to fit my style.**

 **Adapted from original draft by crysky, the previous owner of this story. Written by Mario and BFDI Bros.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Sword and the Wand meet**

Star knew that her parents, especially her mom, weren't happy with how she had been using her magic since she got the family wand on her fourteenth birthday. Her mom, Queen Moon, had even called her "wayward" once, which gave her a little nervousness about being sent to St. Olga's School for Wayward Princesses, since she was clearly a wayward princess. But she'd heard rumors about the school being terrible, even using torture devices. But no matter how she pleaded, Moon never believed her. For a few weeks, she had been set on sending Star there. But when they toured the school (the tour had seemed awfully fake, and some of the princesses had tried to communicate warning messages to her), Moon seemed to have had a change of heart.

But Star had set half the kingdom on fire (her mom had blackened heir to prove it) and now she was afraid she'd pushed it too far.

"Star, you knew this was coming. We simply cannot let you stay here and cause havoc all over Mewni. We're going to send you somewhere away from here, where you can learn to use your magic in a more… civilized manner."

This was it. She had finally done it. But maybe if she begged, Moon would change her mind. "Mommmmmmm, please don't send me to Saint Olga's!"

"Don't worry, Star, we aren't sending you there. Those disappearing cheek marks on the headmistress really threw me. And her name is Heinous? That can't be a good omen."

Star breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived because then she realized that her mother must be sending her somewhere even worse! "But then where are you sending me?"

"We are sending you somewhere with no magic: a place called Earth."

She was happy that it wasn't a torture vault (not one that she'd heard of, anyway) but confused and scared a little.

"But… what's a Earth?"

Moon shook her head. "Earth is a planet, in the dimension of the same name, that you will stay on until you are better at using magic. I'm sending—"

"Puh-plah-nit?"

Moon sighed. "A large celestial body in the Earth dimension that revolves around a central star, or sun."

"Ohhhhhhh," Star said, even though she didn't get it.

"I'm sending Glossaryck with you to help train you with your wand and make sure you don't destroy the planet," she said, rolling her eyes. But she was actually serious. That was the frightening part.

"So, when do I leave?"

Moon stared at Star for a moment, thinking. Then she, wordlessly, opened a portal with dimensional scissors. "Now. Just go. I'll have River meet us there."

After Star was through, Moon muttered to herself, "I just can't wait until I don't have to take care of this mess anymore."

* * *

 **Echo Creek, Earth**

"Good sir, we are inquiring to see if our daughter Star could attend your lovely school through the… ah… foreign exchange program."

Principal Skeeves looked like he was about to consent when his eyes fell upon Star.

"And you said there was no magic here!" Star said excitedly as she flipped the light switch repeatedly, plunging the room into darkness every half second.

"Absolutely not," Principal Skeeves decided as he started pushing them all out the door. That is, until River pulled in a chest full of gold and various gems.

"Would this, perhaps, change your mind?" Moon said, annoyed by his ignorance.

"Absolutely," Skeeves said, grabbing a handful of gold and running his hands through it. Realizing that he was being bribed, he tried to cover up: "Uhhh… this, ah, generous donation of yours is very appreciated. It will be used to help our students thrive in their working environment so that we can prepare them well for their futures. Letting your daughter attend is… the least I could do."

"She will need a guide," Moon said, slightly bothered by the way he was bribed so easily.

"I know just the person," said Skeeves. He pushed the intercom button on his desk."Marco Diaz to the office… now."

In room 209, Marco heard his name called over the intercom.

"Uhh ok." The entire walk to the office he was scared as to why he was being called. Maybe Amailia hadn't felt welcomed, and her parents had filed a complaint? Had he been a bad guide?

"Did I do something wrong?" Marco asked as walked into the office.

"No, you didn't. I need you to guide the new exchange student around. Now if you will excuse me, I have a date with ice cream," Skeeves said, dragging the chest back out the door.

Marco looked confused and pointed a finger at the principal, who had now raced out the door. "Doesn't he have to run the school still? And how did he get that chest?"

"We bribed him, of course," River announced matter-of-factly.

"What? You bribed the principal?!"

River, Moon, Star and some random servant walked out after Skeeves as Marco was turning the corner to go to the office. He nearly ran into Star as he tripped and fell to avoid crashing into her.

"Sorry, that was my fault." Marco and Star said in unison."No really it was my fault." they said in unison again. Star backed up and pointed her wand at him, assuming a defensive stance, before she busted out laughing.

"That was weird," she said, grabbing Marco's hand to pull him up.

Moon and River gave each other a look that could only be described as the "oh no, I think she's in love again" kinda look.

"I'm assuming that you're Marco," King Butterfly said to Marco, grabbing his hand.

"Uh yeah, that's me. Who are you?" Marco said, shaking his hand.

River chuckled. "I'm River, this is Moon, and you have already met Star. Principal Skeeves said you would be Star's guide and that she would be staying with you," River said.

Marco stood there for a moment, thinking, oh great here we go again, remembering the events of the day before. "Y-yeah. Definitely. No problem. I'll handle it."

'Somehow,' he thought.

* * *

The tour went okay. Many of the stops were the same as with Amailia, like the drinking fountain, fire extinguishers, the TV in one of the classrooms (Star insisted it was "kinda pointless," but her reasoning made absolutely no sense to him). At one point Marco had to explain how presidency was different from monocracy, and how the president only controlled part of the Earth, and, no, there was no supreme ruler of earth.

And then a kid walking down the hall said "OMG," which led his to explaining the acronym, which resulted in Star asking who God was, and after that, Marco eventually gave up. He tried to explain how some people worshipped him, and some people didn't believe in him, and Marco didn't know why he was portrayed as male, and that no one had really seen him before, so no one really knew for sure if he was real, and that's why some people didn't believe in him.

But Star just said, "Well, If I were God, then I'd go hang out with some of the humans so they know I'm real. And if he wasn't real, then I couldn't really be him since I am real, so problem solved!"

"That's… that's not how that… ugh!" That was when Marco gave up and adopted the strategy of "That's not important." For example:

"Why is the tile white?"

"That's not important."

"What's that statue?"

"It's a possum."

"Why is it a possum?

"That's not important."

"Why are those trees so tall?"

"That's not important."

"Are you annoyed about something?"

"That's not important."

Finally, Star had inspected every little trinket she could find in the whole school. They ended out in front of the school.

"And that's the school," Marco said, rolling his eyes as he turned around and started walking away.

"Cool! I just have one question: where do we eat lunch?"

Macro groaned. "I just showed you the whole school, and you were looking at the color of the tile on the ground and the number of lights on the ceiling, so much that you don't even know where the cafeteria is!"

"Oh, that's right! It's that room with blue-and-red flecked grayish tile and the really high ceiling with exactly thirty-six lanterns in the ceiling!"

"They're lights," Marco corrected, annoyed that Star had disproven his point.

Star skipped in front of him. "So where will I be staying?" Marco blew it off, ignoring the question until they got to the house. He counted fifteen "that's not important"s throughout the walk.

Finally, mercifully, they arrived. "This is the house. We already have another exchange student named Amailia who's staying here. She's a princess too, I think, from… Draclord?" Marco said.

"Cool!"

As they walked to the door, Marco noticed that his parents' car was gone from the driveway; great, he was all alone with two crazy princesses. He used his key to open the door and saw Amailia was sitting on the couch reading How to Train Your Dragon.

"Uh, Amailia, we have another exchange student," Marco said, stepping in so Star could walk in.

"Hi! I'm Star," she said, reaching her hand towards Amailia and shaking her hand.

"I'm Amailia," she greeted, shaking Star's hand.

"You know, this is what you're supposed to do as a princess but it's kinda boring. Hugs?" "Yeah, sure!"

The two then hugged, then started talking with each other.

Marco, meanwhile, still stood in the doorway. "That went well. I was afraid they would be enemies or something," he said relieved, shaking his head and going to his room. "That would have ended badly."

As it was, the two becoming friends would actually bring twice the danger into Marco's life.

* * *

 **The next chapter has already been written by Star's Keyblade 4114, and chapter five will either be me or Keyblade. See ya in chapter five or six!**

 **Note from M &BFDIB: I write svtfoe too, so check out my author page for more Star!**


	4. Chapter 4: Sword and Wand's first fight

**Chapter 4: The Star and Dragon's first meeting and first battle together**

"So Marco said you're a princess too right? So which dimension are you from?" Star asked.

"I'm the princess of the Bahamut Kingdom that's in the Draclord dimension. I just turned 14 and got my family's royal magick sword. But I'm not too… skilled yet with it, so my parents sent me here to earth so I can use it better." Amailia said while scratching her head and laughing a little nervously.

"No way! I just turned 14 too and got my family's royal magic wand." Star said excitedly as she showed Amailia her wand. "Wow Star, that wand looks like it matches you perfectly. Does your family's wand always look like this?" "Actually, the wand changes depending on who holds it." Star said.

"Whoa really? Cause my family's sword does the same thing!" "Oh! Oh! Can I see what it look like please?" Star asked. "Sure you can. It's upstairs in the room I'm staying in, come on," Amailia said as she and Star went upstairs.

When they got to Amailia's room, Star's eyes sparkled when she saw everything that was in it.

"Woooww, your room looks so awesome! Gasp, are all these weapons yours?!" Star asked looking at the swords and lances that decorated the walls.

"Yeah they are, most of them I found while exploring and a couple of them I got while completing missions with the knights of my kingdom." Amailia said as she walked over to the night stand near her bed where her sword was leaning against.

"Wait missions? You mean like important stuff for your kingdom?" Star asked a bit confused. "Yeah, you see I'm not only going to be the next Queen of the Bahamut kingdom, I'm also going to be the greatest Mystic Knight in the entire Draclord Dimension!" Amailia said excitedly as she raised her sword into the air.

"Umm Amailia, could you maybe tell me what a Mystic Knight is? Cause I don't think we have those back in Mewni." Star said even more confused now.

"Mewni? Is that the name of the dimension your from Star?" "Yeah it is, you haven't heard of it before?" I think I have? I know I remember hearing something about it before, but when it comes to sitting down and listening to long talks about royal stuff, I tend to fall asleep sometimes." Amailia said.

"Same here, but this Mystic Knight stuff your talking about sounds a lot more fun. Do you think you could tell more about please?! Please?!" Star asked excitedly. "You are really hyperactive aren't you Star? Okay, I'll tell you what a Mystic Knight is all about. Ah, hold up sec, don't you need to unpack your stuff if you're staying here too?" "Oh yeah, well I was wondering if I could maybe stay in this room with you?" Star asked.

"You want to share this room with me? Hmm well… I don't have an issue with that, it's just… keeping my room clean is not my strong suit ha-ha." Amailia said laughing a little.

"Oh that's fine, I'm not all that good at keeping my room clean either." "Really? Hmm… okay then. Like I said, I don't mind sharing the room. So how is this going to work now?" Amailia asked.

"Well I do have this spell that can transform the place, but I don't want mess up the room you have right now though." Star said thinking about what to do.

"Well, how about we both cast a spell at the same time?" Amailia suggested. "Huh? At the same time?" "Yeah, if the spell you're going to use is similar to the one I used to make my room, then if we both cast them at the same time it might solve our problem." She explained causing Star's eyes to sparkle with excitement.

"That sounds like an amazing idea! Let's do that right now!" Star said energetically.

'Yep, defiantly hyper. I can see her and Illya getting along right from the start.' Amailia thought as she smiled.

"Alright then Star, let's get started!" She said as she drew her sword from the scabbard on her back. "Whoa, your sword looks just as cool as my wand." "Thanks Star, now you ready?" "Yep," Star said as her wand and the gem on Amailia's sword both began to glow.

 **"Rowdy Whirlwind Redecoration!/ Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand!"** they both yelled as Star raised her wand into the air and Amailia planted her sword into the floor, quickly flooding the room with purple and blue light.

"What the heck are you guys doing in… here?" Marco said bursting through the door after running from his room, when he saw a bright flash of purple and blue lights from his window. When he looked inside, his eyes widened at what he saw.

It was still the four-floor castle loft that Amailia had created, except now the first floor had two canopy beds, one had dark-blue curtains and the other had sky-blue ones. There were now two closets and two large work desks, the couch was much bigger and was colored in a blue and green camouflage. The walls were still the same light blue color, but now they had light-green stars and crescent moons painted on them as well as red and silver swirls and dragon silhouette painted on too. A few more weapons could be seen on the walls too, such as great swords, morning stars, lances and maces as well as a couple posters. There were a couple of beanbag chairs and a four-shelf bookcase. There two large dressers, two interdimensional mirrors and the spiral staircase ow had blue and green steps that lead up to the other floors.

"Marco, come look at what me and Amailia did to our room!" Star said as she pulled the stunned Marco into the newly decorated bedroom.

"Wait, 'our' new room?" he said confused as looked to Amailia for an answer. "Oh yeah, Star asked if she could bunk with me in this room while she's here." Amailia said.

"And Amailia said yes, so we used our magic to make the room comfortable for both of us; and I gotta say our magic works really well together huh?" Star said impressed with how the room looked now. "Yeah it does, I hope this all okay Marco?" Amailia asked. "Ah yeah, it's cool with me and I'm pretty sure my parents will be fine with it too." Marco said.

"So now that we have the issue of the room over with, can you please tell about the Mystic Knights from your kingdom now please?!" Star begged excitedly as she hopped up and down while grabbing Amailia's arm. "Okay Star, easy there, I'll tell you everything I know about the Mystic Knight. Marco why don't you come and listen too?" Amailia asked him.

"Huh? Oh, okay then, I guess it could be interesting to hear."

"Yes! Come on then you guys, let's get comfy first." Star said excitedly pulling the two towards the beanbag chairs.

Amailia sat on a blue one, Star hopped onto a pink one and Marco was thrown into a red one which he soon started to sinking into.

"Uh you doing okay there Marco?" Amailia asked as she and Star were trying not to laugh at how Marco was trying to get un-stuck. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Go on and start telling us about these Mystic Knights." "You sure? Cause it looks like your sinking deeper into the beanbag." "I'm sure, so go on and start." He said as he continued with his beanbag struggle.

"Okay then, well a Mystic Knight is basically what some people call "magick swordsman" or "swords woman". They've also been called "Rune Fencers" and "Spell Fencers" sometimes, but I just call them awesome." Amailia said. "Anyway, Mystic Knights train very hard in both swordsmanship and magick. Their also able to perform summoning magick and can use a powerful form of magick called "Quickening Magick"."

"Quick-ening magic? What kind of magic is that?" Star asked. "Quickening magick is like an super powerful spell that can basically wipe out a big enough area, depending on how strong the person's own magick level is." Amailia explained which made Star's eyes sparkle with excitement. "Wow! So does that mean you know how to use that kind of magic Amailia?" "Well… no Star, I'm still working on it. Although, I can do a little bit of summoning magick, but let's save that for another time. Now Mystic Knights can not only perform powerful magick, they can also cast magic on their weapons and armor to make them even stronger." What?! So you can like cast a spell on your sword and make it into a flaming sword?!" "Pretty much yeah," Amailia said proudly as Star hopped excitedly in her beanbag chair.

"Um, don't you have to worry about the sword melting when you set it on fire? I mean, the weapons and armor Mystic Knights use are made out of metal right?" Marco asked finally able to sit in his beanbag chair.

"Not exactly Marco. Your half right that the weapons Mystic Knights use are made of metal, but you see there made of a special type of metal called Mythril, it's a metal only found in Draclord and it's very responsive to magick." Amailia explained. "Ooh, so that means you can use magic on your weapons and not worry too much?" "That's right," She said.

"Oh! Oh! Then can we see you set your sword on fire then!" Star asked excitedly.

"What?! No! What if something catches on fire Star?!" Marco said in a panicked voice. "Relax Marco, I train all the time with flame sword magic. There's like a 95% chance I'll set something on fire." Amailia said with confidence.

"And what's the other 5%?" "Um… the chance I might blow something up, ha-ha." "… No flaming swords please?" "Okay, okay Marco," Amailia said much to Star's disappointment.

Suddenly the three teens heard a sky piercing roar from outside.

"Whoa, what was that?!" Star said jumping up from her beanbag.

"Oh, sounds like Ratha back from his flight around the city." Amailia said as another roar could be heard.

"Wait, you let him fly around… the city? What if someone spotted him?" Marco said with a bit of worry in his voice. "Don't worry, Ratha likes to fly high up above the clouds, so I don't think anyone on the ground could see him." "Okay, but what if he flew into an airplane? They fly above the cloud too." Marco said. "Air-plane? You mean an airship Marco? Ratha knows to avoid flying into those when in the air. Not an airship Amailia, air-plane, there's a difference. By the sound of it Marco, they both seem to move through the air, so they sound the same to me." Amailia said shrugging her shoulders as Marco sighed in exasperation.

"Um, can you guys tell me who Ratha is?" Star asked.

"Oh sorry Star, well Ratha is-hmph!" Marco started to say until Amailia covered his mouth.

"Hold on a sec Marco," She said before turning to Star. "How about I let you meet Ratha instead of just telling you about Star? I'm sure he'd be really excited to meet you too." "Ooh, that sounds even better. Let's go then, I want meet right now!" Star said as she ran out of the room.

"Star, wait for me!" Amailia said as she raced after her with Marco quickly following behind.

* * *

When they got to the back door, Amailia grabbed Star before she could open the door to the backyard.

"Star hold on, first I'm going to need you to put your wand away. I don't want Ratha thinking you're a threat by accident okay?" Amailia asked. "Oh okay, ha, sorry for running off like that." Star said as she put her wand away in her star purse. "It's cool Star, your just excited about meeting Ratha is all, can't fault you for that." She said understandingly.

"Yeah Star, just… don't get over-excited, okay?" Marco said as Star nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay then, come on you two," Amailia said as she walked to the door and turned the knob.

Once the door was fully open, Amailia stepped aside so Star could walk through. As soon as Star walked passed Amailia, her mouth fell open and her eyes widened when she saw a large, bright red bipedal dragon standing right in front of her looking back at her curiously.

"Okay Star, I'd like you to meet Ratha, my pet Rathalos and best friend I've met since I was six." Amailia said as she and Marco came up next to Star who was still frozen in shock.

"Ah Star? Are you oaky?" Marco asked as he waved his hand in front of her only to get no response. "Um, Amailia? I think Star's frozen or something." "Huh? Really? Well that's new," she said as she looked at Star curiously. "Hey Star, you in there? I know it's a bit of a shock to see a-"

"OH MY GOSH! LOOK AT THIS BIG GUY! HE LOOKS SO AMAZING!" Star shouted enthusiastically surprising both Marco and Amailia as she ran and stopped right in front of the Rathalos.

"How is it… that I had a feeling that she was going to react like that?" Amailia said smiling as Star ran around Ratha excitedly.

"You aren't the only one, I figured she'd be excited about seeing him, but I didn't think she'd get this excited." Marco said as he and Amailia walked over.

"Okay Star, okay, calm down for a second." Marco said. "How can you expect me to stay calm when I just found out my new best friend has a pet dragon in your backyard Marco?!"

"Uh technically Star, Ratha is a wyvern, but he is part of first generation of dragons so you are kind of right." Amailia said petting Ratha's head kindly.

"I'm just glad the big fella here came back alright is all," Marco said as he walked over and started petting Ratha too. "So you met this big guy when you were six and your parents let you keep him? Jealous," Star said sarcastically.

"Believe me Star, it was not easy. My mom and sisters loved Ratha the minute I brought him home after I help nurse him back to health when he got hurt really bad, it was my dad that I had to convince to let me keep him and… let's just say he can be really stubborn. I guess that's where I got it from, ha." Amailia said laughing a little.

Back in the Draclord dimension, King Orion was looking over some trade documents with Queen Okita when he suddenly sneezed.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" he asked blowing his nose with a handkerchief from his pocket. "He-he, maybe someone is talking about you dear. Per phase a secret admirer?" Okita said jokingly "I just hoping it's not rumors is all," he said as he and his wife went back to looking over the papers.

Back on earth, after Star had finally calmed down after seeing Ratha, Amailia began to introduce the Rathalos to her new friend.

"Okay Ratha, this is my new friend Star, she's also going to be staying at this house with us." Amailia said.

Ratha then looks at Star for a minute before he starts nuzzling her face affectionately. "Aww, he's such a sweetie," Star said sweetly as she pets Ratha fondly. "So do people from your dimension have these guys as pets?"

"Not really, in fact I think my family is the only one in all of Draclord that has a Rathalos as a pet. Usually, in the wild Rathalos are very fearsome monsters. But when I was out training one day, I found Ratha hurt pretty bad. It looked like he was in a fight with other monsters from all the claw marks and bruises he had, so I called the royal guards to come and help me bring Ratha to the castle so he could get help. Of course, my mother was touched and my sisters were ecstatic, but my dad well… need I say anymore?" Amailia said scratching her head.

"Well, by the look of things, everything turned okay." Marco said.

"Yeah Marco's right Amailia, it looks like your dad is alright with you having Ratha now. Isn't that right little Rath?" Star said cutely. "Little Rath? You gave Ratha a nickname already?" Amailia asked. "It's okay right? I think it fits him perfectly." Star said as she scratched underneath Ratha's chin which caused him to growl happily. "Well Ratha seems to like the name, so I don't see any reason not to call him that. Plus, I kinda like the sound of it too." Amailia said.

Ratha then moves over to his nest and carries over an old rusty looking shield to the three teens.

"Um, how come he's showing us this old rusty shield?" Marco asked a little confused.

"Oh, now I know why you came back. You wanted to play didn't you boy?" Amailia guessed and received an answer in the form of scaly friend licking her face. "I'll take that as a yes then. Hey Marco, is there a park close by that we can go to?"

"Uh yeah there is," he said. "Then what our we waiting for? Let's go to the park!" Star shouted excitedly. "Yeah," Amailia shouted as well.

"Um guys? The park's like six blocks away. How exactly are we-" before Marco could finish speaking, Ratha scooped him, Star and Amailia up onto his back.

"Whoa! W-wait! What's he doing?!" Marco said hysteric at the sudden action.

"Star and Marco, I think you two may want to hold onto something. Wait, Amailia he's not thinking of-Ah!"

Marco was cut off as Star suddenly wrapped her arms around him. "I'm ready back here!" Star said. "Alright, Ratha, up!" at Amailia's word, the excited Rathalos shot up into the sky with the three on his back. Marco quickly wrapped his arms around Amailia so he and Star didn't fall off.

"Whoa! We're really flying!" Star shouted joyfully. "I'm still not use to fly on this guys back yet!" Marco shouted. "Y-yeah, can kinda tell from how tight your holding onto me there Marco. Think you could relax a little and tells me which way to this park? " Amailia said while making sure neither Marco or Star saw the blush creeping up on her face.

"S-sorry about that, just…head right, until you see a large open area with fencing around it." "Okay, you heard Marco Ratha, head right until you see a big open space." Ratha roared in acknowledgment and began flying towards the direction Marco said.

Back on the ground on the other side of a fence, a large humanoid frog monster was watching the three leave with a pair of binoculars.

"Hmm, did not expect another princess to be here too with Star Butterfly, Ludo must know this as well." The frog monster said as he took out a pair of gray scissors that had a spiky dark gray handle, cut open a portal and went through as it closed.

* * *

When he came out the other side, in stood at attention in front of staircase that lead to a large throne that had two large horns on it. Two other monsters were standing on its sides as it was facing away.

"Ludo, Master," the frog monster said as he saluted. "I've tracked down Star Butterfly, they've hidden her in the earth dimension." He said.

Wicked laughter was soon heard as the throne spun around to revel a short, grayish-green bird-like monster wearing a mossy green cloak and an unidentified creature's skull on his head like a crown as he sat on stack of pillows.

"Excellent work Buff Frog," the creature known as Ludo said in a pleased tone. "I knew they couldn't keep that royal brat hidden from me for long. Soon the wand will mine. Then the universe! And Then… actually the universe should do." Ludo said.

"Ah Ludo, Master, there is something else I have to report." Buff Frog said. "Well? What is it?" "There is other princess that is with Star Butterfly and she has a flying pet lizard." "So there's another royal brat with a little pet gecko with her? Big deal, it doesn't matter if there's another princess," Ludo said as climbed down from his pillow tower. "We'll get the wand no matter who stands in our way." He said grabbing his staff.

"Aye, big words from such a tiny pup," another voice said surprising Ludo and his minions.

"Who said that?! I demand you show yourself!"

"Then tell this over-weighted toad of yours to get out of my way." Buff Frog is then pushed aside as Ba'Gamnan and his siblings walked in.

"Who are you and how dare you enter my castle un-invited!"

"Heh, you call this rundown shack a castle? And I thought sewer rats had it bad." Ba'Gamnan sneered. "But I suppose it be better than most sewers."

"Aye true brother, maybe we should make this place our new base aye?" Bwagi said with Gijuk and Rinok agreeing.

"Hmm, not a bad idea. But we aren't here to talk about that," Ba'Gamnan said walking up towards Ludo. "If ye plan on go after your little butterfly and this other princess is with her, I think working with me would be in your best interest bird."

"Hmm, you and your um… siblings, look like you could put up a good fight." Ludo said thinking for a second. "I'll accept your offer. Just remember that I get the wand."

"Bah, you'll get your little wand, it's the sword the other one has that I'm after." Ba'Gamnan said as he and the others started to walk out.

"Hold it, just who you supposed to be anyway?" Buff Frog said before the group could walk out of the room.

"I'm known as Headhunter Ba'Gamnan, me and the rest of my crew will be by the gate of your… castle. Don't keep me waiting too long." Ba'Gamnan said darkly before walking out with his siblings following behind.

"Don't think we should trust him boss," Buff Frog whispered to Ludo. "You think I don't know that you idiot! But if he's a headhunter, then he might be our best chance at getting the wand. But still, I want you to keep a close eye on him." Ludo said to which Buff Frog saluted. "Now go get the others, that wand will soon be mine," Ludo said with a sinister smile on his face.

* * *

Back on earth, Star, Marco and Amailia had reached the park, due to Ratha flying so fast wanting to get their so they could play. The three were currently playing what Star calls "Shield catch" in which one of them throws the shield as far as they can and the other two have to race Ratha and see who can catch it first.

"You were defiantly onto something Star, this game was a great idea." Amailia said. "Thanks, I knew you'd like it." Star said as Ratha came running up and stopped right in front of the two girls with the shield in his mouth. "Good boy Ratha, but… where's Marco?" Amailia asked.

"Right…ha…here," Marco said breathing heavily as he slid off of Ratha's back and onto the ground.

"How… is it… that he can run… so fast after… your mom shrunk him?" Marco asked in between breathes as he stood up.

"Well, my mom's spell only decreased Ratha's size, it didn't decrease his original strength and speed when he's at full-size." Amailia explained. "And trust me when I say you don't want to see Ratha mad when he's that big." "I'll… take your word for it, so what's the score again?" Marco asked to which Star took out a notepad from her star purse.

"Okay so, Amailia has 7 points, I've got 4 points, Marco has… 2 points and Ratha has… 20 points. Wow, our little Rath here is so good at this game, are you?" Star said cutely as she rubbed the Rathalos's head causing him to growl affectionately.

"It's around 6:45 right now, we should probably think about heading back soon…guys?" Marco said as his eyes widened.

"Um Marco? Why'd you stop talking?" "Yeah Marco, what's the problem?" Star and Amailia asked when they saw their friends suddenly freeze in mid-sentence.

"G-guys? B-behind you," Marco stuttered out as he pointed behind them.

The two looked back and saw an army of monsters standing right behind them ready to fight.

"Star Butterfly, I've found you at last." Ludo said wickedly.

"Ludo, how did you know I was here on earth?" "Hmph, wouldn't you like to know," He said adjusting the collar of his green rob. "Yes, that's why I asked." "Well Buff Frog- Hey! I don't have to tell you anything!" he yelled back angrily.

"Does that beak of yours ever stop? Maybe I should pluck it from your face after we're done with these brats here?" Ba'Gamnan said as he and his group walked up next to Ludo's. "Watch it you, before I… hmm… chop off your tail and feed it to Spikeballs." Ludo threatened only for Ba'Gamnan to ignore him as he looked at the three teens and Rathalos.

"So girl, you're the current princess of that butterfly family are ye? Heh, another little pup let off their leash." Ba'Gamnan sneered as Star glared at him.

"Funny, because I remember you saying the same thing to me not too long after I came here," Amailia said walking up next to Star as she gave Ba'Gamnan a cocky look. "And I also seem to remember me, Marco and Ratha here sending you and your goons running with your tails between your legs lizard face." She said in a mocking tone which made the bangaa headhunter growl.

"Hey Amailia, do you know this guy? And you, Marco and Ratha fought him before!?" Star asked in surprise.

"Yep Star, this guy here is Ba'Gamnan, he's a headhunter who's had it out for me since I started out as a mystic knight. He's also been after my family's sword too, he actually showed up on earth when he found out I was here, but Marco, Ratha and I kicked his tail and sent him packing." Amailia said.

"Wait Marco, you know how to fight?" Star asked looking back at her earth friend. "Yeah, it called kara-WATCH OUT!" Marco yelled causing Star to turn her head to see Ba'Gamnan raise his Ba'Gangsaw blade weapon ready to strike.

Amailia quickly grabbed Star's arm and pulled her out of the way as the sawblade struck where Star was standing moments ago.

"As usual, you always liked trying to go for a cheap shot at your opponent," Amailia said as she glared at the headhunter.

"Ha, blame you and your little friends there for talking so much pup." Ba'Gamnan said raising his weapon. "Get them and the sword!" he shouted as his crew started charging.

"What he said, but get me the wand!" Ludo yelled as his monster army also charged at them.

Two blue and gray skinned bangaa ran towards Amailia with their spears raised ready to strike. Amailia quickly threw her sword and blocked their attacks, then shoved them back and raised sword up and said **"Burning Storm Whiplash!"** as the sword then glowed red and was soon cloaked in blue flames. Amailia then swung the sword releasing a blue fire whip that sent the two attackers crashing into a tree.

"How do you like that huh?" Amailia said excitedly. "Whoa, that spell looked so cool!" Star said in amazement. "Star, behind you!" Marco warned her as two of Ludo's monster and three green skinned bangaa were headed right for her. Star quickly turned around in response to Marco's shouting and raised her wand and shouted **"Rainbow Blast!"** as a multi-colored blast shot out of her wand and hit the two monster and one of the three bangaas. The two that managed to get out of the way of the spell, reached Star and swung their tails knocking her onto her back.

They then jumped at her ready to strike her with their swords as she tried to get up. But before they could even reach her, Marco knocked one of them away with a jump kick while Ratha flew into the second one with a flying head-butt.

"Star! You okay?" Marco asked as he helped her back onto her feet. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for the quick save Marco, oh and you too Ratha. you really do know how to fight don't you Marco?" Star said impressed.

"As I was saying before, it's called," Marco then performed a jumping axe kick on a monster that tried to attack him and Star from behind then did a sweep kick and uppercut on an gray skinned bangaa that tried attacking from the side. "Karate," Marco said looking back at Star who was even more impressed with the Latino boy.

"Incoming you guys!" they heard Amailia shout as she sent another four of Ludo's monster flying passed them with a blast from her sword.

"Hang on Amailia! We're coming!" Star shouted as she, Marco and Ratha quickly ran over to where she was fighting. However, several of Ludo's and Ba'Gamnan goons were blocking their way.

"You brats aren't going anywhere," a red skinned bangaa with a club sneered. Ratha then threw his head back and let loose a massive fireball blasting the group of goons away, clearing their way.

"Good boy Ratha," Marco said petting the Rathalos's head. "Yeah now let's give Amailia some help!" Star said as they resumed their run to get to their friend.

"Okay, I think… I'm in… a bit of bind here," Amailia said breathing heavily as she jumped out of the way as Buff Frog and Bwagi tried to grab her again.

"Getting tired are ye pup?!" Ba'Gamnan said as he swung his Ba'Gangsaw at Amailia from the side. She quickly blocked the attacked, but was struggling to hold it back.

 **"Rainbow Fist Punch!"** a rainbow colored fist then slammed into Ba'Gamnan sending him flying into Ludo and Buff Frog. Ratha then charged into the group that was trying to surround Amailia scattering them.

"Amailia! Are you okay?!" Star shouted as she and Marco ran up to her. "Yeah I'm fine, thanks you guys." She said a bit tiredly. "Ba'Gamnan and his goons on their own I can handle, but this Ludo guy's monsters and their random attacks, sigh, it's starting to get to me."

"Yeah same here. I can handle Ludo's monsters pretty easily, but these lizard guys fight just like soldiers. I really didn't think Ludo would team up with someone like this." Star said as she flinched at the spot where those two bangaas tails struck her when she place her hand on it.

"Argh! I've had enough of these games! Get the sword now!" Ba'Gamnan shouted. "Get the wand as well!" Ludo yelled also yell as the remainder of both groups got up and charged at the three teens and Ratha.

"Okay, I think I've had enough of this. Star? Ratha? You want to blast these guys into next week?" Amailia said grinning as the gem on her sword began to glow a bright blue. "Oh I'm more than ready," Star said a she stood next to Amailia on her right and Ratha stood on her left.

Marco took a cautious step back when he saw the blade of Amailia's sword start to glow blue.

As Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's groups drew closer, Amailia raised her now glowing blue sword into the air and Star did the same as her wand started glowing too, flames began leaking out of Ratha's mouth as he pulled his head back a bit.

"EAT THIS! **Tri-Storm Dragon Blast!/Mega Narwhal Blast!"** They both shouted at the same time as Amailia swung her sword launching three huge red, blue and yellow energy blasts that looked like Ratha's head, as a stream of narwhals flew out of Star's wand. Ratha released a massive stream of fire along with the two spells at the charging group that started to run in the opposite direction when they saw the massive attacks coming towards them. However they weren't fast enough and when the three blasts hit, an enormous mushroom cloud explosion lite up the now dark sky.

When the dust settled, there was a giant crater and all of Ludo's and Ba'Gamnan's henchmen were on the ground or hanging from trees moaning in pain and agony with a couple of bruises and burn marks.

Ludo and Ba'Gamnan had looks of complete shock on their faces at the sheer destruction they just watched.

"So you want some of this, Ludo?" Star said with a hand on her hip and a confident smile on her face.

"How about you Ba'Gamnan? Still think you and your crew can take care of these "little pups"?" Amailia said with just as much confidents as Star with knowing grin on her face as she stuck her sword into the ground and leaned against it as the two teens looked at their respective foes.

Ludo and Ba'Gamnan shared an annoyed look at each other before looking back at the two girls.

"I don't know about you, but I'm smart enough to know when to call something a loss. No matter how much I don't want to." The little green bird monster said irritated.

"Grrrr… agreed," the headhunter grounded out through clenched teeth as Ludo opened up a portal with his scissors. "Come on you worthless idiots, into the portal, now!" "That goes for you useless sacks of scales too!" they yelled as their battered and beaten armies walked through the portal.

"Don't think this is the last time you'll see me girl!" Ba'Gamnan threatened as he walked into the portal. "The same goes for us as well, Star Butterfl-Ahh!" Ludo started to say but his head got caught as the portal closed around him. He managed to pull his head through, but he lost his skull crown.

"Well… that was a thing huh Star?" "Yeah, that was defiantly a thing." Star said as she and Amailia leaned against Ratha.

"Hey, you two okay?" Marco asked as he tiredly made his way over to them.

"We're good Marco," Star said with a tired smile. "Yeah, just… worn out is all from casting those spells." Amailia said just as tired. "Well I'm not surprised," Marco said as he took a spot next to Star. "I mean we just fought to huge groups of monster and you guys blasted them to kingdom come." Marco said in an excitedly tired voice. "Okay, it's now… 7:25, we should probably get home now."

"But I'm so tired Marco, do you think you could carry me please?" Star asked in a cute voice. "I wouldn't mind being carried back too," Amailia asked in an equally cute voice.

Marco groaned and was about to say he was tired too, until the three heard someone speak from behind Ratha.

"So this was where you went off to Princess Amailia," the three looked passed Ratha and saw someone wearing black steel-plated armor and a horned helmet walk up to them. "And I see you've caused a bit of… sigh, trouble around here." The armored person said looking around at the scorched and torn up ground.

"You could say that, ha-ha." Amailia said laughing a little as the armored stranger shook his head in exasperation before looked over at Star. "So I assume according to the note Marco left, that you are the other exchange student that will be living along with Amailia and myself correct?" "Um, yes? Uh Amailia? Who is this guy?" Star asked.

"Oh right, I guess I forgot to mention this. Star, this is my bodyguard/instructor Judge Magister Gabranth, my parents sent him with me to help with my Mystic Knight training while I'm here on earth. Gabranth, this is my new friend Star…uhh… hey Star, what's your last name?" Amailia asked.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you. My full name is Star Butterfly, Princess to the Kingdom of Mewni. It's very nice to meet you Mister Gabrath." Star said as she tiredly held her hand out to him.

Gabranth looked at Star for a brief second, before he shook her hand.

"Yes it's a… pleasure to make your acquaintance, Princess Butterfly." He said in an even tone which did not go unnoticed by Amailia. "But it's pronounced Gabranth, Princess." "Huh? Didn't I say that?" Star asked confused.

"Ah Star, you said Gabrath. He said Gabranth, there's an 'n' before the 'th'." Marco explained to her.

"Ohh, okay then, sorry about that Mister Ga-bra-nth. Did I get right that time?" Star asked. "Yeah, you got it Star. So Gabranth, I take it you came out here looking for us?" Amailia asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes, it was starting to get late and while the Mr. and Mrs. Diaz assured that their son would make sure you arrived back safely, I took upon myself to come get you both should something happen. But from the look of the area, you three seem to have taken care of that concern." Gabranth said looking around the ruined park. "I'll deal with this, Ratha, make sure these three arrive back at the house safely."

The Rathalos growled in acknowledgment as he scooped all three of the tired teens onto his back.

"And be sure to fly at a steady pace," he told the winged wyvern before it took off into the sky back to the Diaz's home.

"Star Butterfly hmm," Gabranth said to himself as he began using water and earth magick to repair the park. "I have read records relating to the founding of the kingdom that mention someone with the name Butterfly, perhaps I should speak with her majesty about this." He said. "But for right now though, I'll have to focus on cleaning this area. Sigh, given the amount of damage done here, it would seem that Princess Star is also well versed in wielding magicks. If that's the case, then I might be doing this more often if she and Lady Amailia are together. That boy Marco, may need a bit of training from me if that's the case." Gabranth said in a slightly amused tone as he continued to repair the park.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, Now the next chapter… I have no idea if me or Mario while right the next one. But thank you all for reading and stay cool. Peace out. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5: Party Pony

**Hiya everyone! New author here! My name has been mentioned since I've beta-read and the like, but I've now been promoted to co-author! Anyway, I'm Mario and BFDI Bros. I write SVTFOE on my own author page (I currently have three SVTFOE stories, one one-shot collection, and two one-shots.), as well as PJO and some others that I wrote a while ago. Anyway, I was drafted in because, as we know, something happened with crysky. Luckily, he's feeling much better now, and he'll probably be back to writing again soon. Enough about me, here's chapter 5!**

* * *

"Hey guys, to celebrate our victory, I've got some-"

"Ooh," Star interrupted Marco, "triangle food!"

"I was _going_ to say nachos, but all right?"

Amalia joined in: "Oh, those are like… what are they… cheesechips!"

"Again, yes?" Marco responded, "I don't really know. But they are chips covered in cheese."

"Well let's stop talking 'cause I'm ready to-" Star was cut off by a knock at the door.

Amalia jumped up and pointed her sword toward the sound menacingly, staring down the door.

"Gosh, Amalia, do you just carry that thing with you wherever you go?" Marco exclaimed

Amalia looked over her shoulder. "Yeah. You don't?"

"Believe it or not, it's kind of strange here to walk around with a sword-"

"But what was that thing?"

"Dude, chill out," Star cut in, "it's probably just a neighbor knocking at the door to come in."

Then Amalia finally let down her guard and assumed an annoyed look. "Did you just call me 'dude'?"

Star threw her hands up. "It's gender-neutral!"

Marco came between them. "Look, guys, we're all gonna take a while to get used to each other's… cultural differences. I mean, I honestly think it's crazy for both of you to be given the power of your royal families at only fourteen! But whatever." He walked up to the door, at first seeing nothing until a flying unicorn head appeared, sending Marco sprawling and the nachos flying.

"Pony Head!" Star exclaimed.

Amalia backed away. "What _is_ that thing?"

"She's a flying horse head, of course!"

Amalia gave her a look back.

"What? You have dragons!"

Amalia laughed. "They're wyverns, but true."

And they both cracked up laughing. Pony Head floated there impatiently. Finally, Star noticed. "Oh, sorry Pony Head! This is Amalia, my best friend from… where is it?"

"Draclord," Amalia finished.

"Best friend?"

"Best friend from… uh…" Star began to explain.

"Draclord," Amalia finished.

"Yeah, that. And your my best friend on Mewni! This is my best friend _from Earth_ , Marco!" Star explained.

"Okay, Earth turd, Craplord Girl, stay out of my way

Marco groaned.

"It's Draclord!" Amalia exclaimed.

Pony looked uninterested. "I know."

"And uh… what's a turd?"

"You don't wanna know," Marco answered.

Amalia looked slightly perturbed.

Meanwhile, Star was ecstatic to see her friend. "So, Pony Head, what were you planning on doing?"  
"Girl, we're going out tonight! Us two! Ready to make some bad decisions?!"

"Yeah!" Star shouted excitedly. Then she remembered something and added, "Marco and Amalia, too!"  
Pony Head looked the two over skeptically. "Naw, you two are like, party poopers! And how can we have a girls' night with these… boys?"

Amalia had been distracted but her head snapped up when she heard that. "Boys?"

Pony Head blinked. "I was messin' with ya, girl! Take a joke! Haha…."

As the horse head chatted with Star, Amalia whispered to Marco, "Do I look like a boy?"

"Honestly? Yes, you look like a girl; that horse head is just freaky! Don't worry about anything she says."  
Amalia smiled. "Thanks."

"All right, fine, they can come," Pony Head stated aloud. "As long as they're really as cool as you say, Star."

"Oh yeah, they are! This is gonna be so fun!"  
Amalia and Marco glanced at each other sideways. Amalia shrugged to him, but Marco looked unsure still. "Um…"

"C'mon, Marco! Please, please, please, please?"

Marco sighed. "Okay…"

"I'm in," Amalia added.

"Yesssss! Best girls' night ever!"

Marco looked at Amalia with a panicked expression. "Do I look like a girl?"

Amalia laughed. "Chill, Marco. No one seems to care."

Now Pony Head had produced dimensional scissors and held them in her mouth. "Let's go, Star! Oh, and the turds." She opened a portal and entered, then Star, leaving Amalia and Marco.

"Are we actually going to another dimension?" Marco asked incredulously.

"It's all right. It'll be fun. Trust me."  
"O… okay."

They held hands and walked through the portal together, Marco holding his breath.

They stepped out of the portal , and the first thing they saw Pony Head whooping and dancing around to music that was playing, music unlike any Marco or Amalia had ever heard.  
The second thing was Star greeting them. "Welcome to the Bounce Lounge, besties! Now it's time to dance!" She seemed to remember something. "Oh, and stay away from the edge."

Marco and Amalia looked around for the first time, noticing that the whole place was a cloud, and that over the edge of the cloud was a long fall to a field of tall razor-sharp sparks, which a skeleton could be seen impaled on. Marco jumped back with a yelp. Amalia frowned, saying, "That looks kinda dangerous."

They were soon pulled away from the edge by Star who dragged them along shouting, "Guys! Photo booth!"  
The mentioned photo booth came into view, and the four packed into it. It was a bit tight, but they all fit within the view of the camera. They took pictures in different poses, but Pony Head and Star often dominated the image.  
After they took four strips of pictures, Star looked at the photos and squealed in delight. "My besties are besties! All right guys, take some more, the three of you, so I can have some of my bestie besties hanging out!"

Marco and Amalia both looked at each other then smiled to Star. "Uh, sure," Marco said.

As the booth gave them time to prepare their poses, Pony looked menacingly to Marco and Amalia. "You two stay away from Star or else…" she threatened.

"Or else what?" Amalia asked anxiously.

"Or else… you get the horn!" She pointed her horn menacingly at her.

Amalia gulped.

"A-all right, we get it. Stay away from Star when you're around," Marco conceded.

"Good," Pony Head returned. Then the whole menacing persona was gone and she said, "Let's take some photos!"

But Marco and Amalia were still uncomfortable, even after leaving the close confines of the photo booth and distancing themselves from booth Pony Head. Pony Head had grabbed the photo strips and bolted over to Star. Marco began to approach the two, but Amalia pulled him back. "Do you want the horn?" she hissed.

Marco loosened up. "Point taken."

Amalia let go. "I hate those kinds of people. Possessive of their friends. Don't get me wrong, I think Pony is pretty all right otherwise. It's just… a thing for me. I lost a friend to a person like that."

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing you could've done."

"No, but there's something I can do: I'll stick with you, at least till you go back to Draclord. But I'll make sure you don't lose me too, all right?"

She smiled up at Marco through her bangs. "Thanks."

Marco nodded.

Then suddenly Marco shouted and lurched away from Amalia. Pony Head had bumped into him at high speed, and he flew for a few yards. To Amalia's horror, he neared the edge and fell over it! He was hanging from the clouds, and Amalia rushed over to him. The cloud broke away just as she reached for Marco, and he tumbled toward the spikes, screaming the whole way. Star arrived just behind her. "Marcoooooo!" she shouted. "Pony, go help him!"

"Huh, girl? I can't hear ya! I'm really getting my groove on now!"  
But Amalia, quick on her feet, had whipped out her sword and now pointed it straight at Marco, encasing him in a purplish glow. She strained, hard, somewhat slowing his descent. Then she drove her sword upward and, with all her might, launched Marco through the air in an arc. He flew at least thirty feet into the air then, flailing fell headfirst into the cloud, sinking halfway through, still screaming, although muffled. Amalia and Star rushed over to Marco's thrashing legs, dodging around and avoiding his kicks.

Meanwhile, Star chatted, "That was some pretty awesome magic, Amalia! There's no way I could do something like that."

"Thanks. We each have our strengths."

They eventually got close enough enough to grab hold of one leg each. They heaved out a heavily-breathing Marco.

The two girls high-fived.

"Now I'm gonna go talk to Pony Head," Star determined, her grin fading.

As she left, Amalia turned back to the hyperventilating Marco. "You all right?"

He shook his head, and his breathing returned to normal. "Yeah. Just absolutely terrified." His teeth began to chatter in shock.

"Let's go find Star."

Marco nodded and stood.

As they approached Star, they saw her talking to Pony Head angrily.

"You can't just do that! He's my best friend!"

"I thought I was your best friend."

"I can have more than one friend, Pony. You gotta realize that. Even though… we won't see each other as often now that I'm on Earth, We're still gonna hang out! No one can replace you."

"I'm sorry, Star. I didn't realize how much he meant to you. And the other turd too."

"Pony…"

"Fine, Emilio. I'll be nicer to her, too."

"Amalia," the girl in question corrected.

Pony Head frowned. "Umm… yeah, that."

Marco had been staring down at the spikes the whole time. "Can we go somewhere else?"

Pony Head seemed to get an idea. "I know just the place! Earth turd, you're gonna love it." She cut a portal and everyone followed her through.

They ended up in a place known to Star and Pony Head as the Amethyst Arcade. Marco gasped and looked around excitedly at the sight of all the games.

Strange rectangular beings roamed the place. As the four wandered about, Marco discovered a game called _Lance Lance Revolution_ yards away. " _Dance Dance Revolution,_ I love that game! I can't believe you have it here!"

"I don't know what you're talking 'bout, Tu-Marco," Pony Head interjected, "But that game there is _Lance Lance Revolution_. With Ls." She proceeded to make "L" noises.

Awkwardness came over them as they all stared at Pony Head.

"Aaaanyway, who wants to play me?"

"I will!" shouted Amalia immediately.

"Lie lill!" said Pony soon after, but the two had already taken off.

Watching the two run off, Star frowned and sighed. Then she turned to her remaining friend. "Pony, are you all right?"

"Yeah, girl, I'm just fine, I don't know what you're talking about!"

She clearly wasn't fine, but Star wouldn't have admitted to it either. There was almost a silent understanding between them that neither were feeling very well.

"Anyway, let's just go find another game," Pony Head decided.

"Yeah."

They walked aisle through aisle of arcade games.

"Done that," Star commented on a game.

"No fun," Pony Head mentioned about another.

"Sick of that one."

"That one's rigged."

They were losing hope when Star gasped. " _Warni-Kong!_ "

She rushed over to the game, only to find a green square with glasses already playing it. She waited for him to finish, watching as the little Jumpman leaped over rolling obstacles, approaching the warnicorn at the top. Just before he reached the top, he collided with a flaming obstacle and turned charred black all over, then everything on the screen disappeared and was replaced with the words, **GAME OVER**.

"My—!" Star exclaimed. She was about to say _My turn_ , but she saw the square insert another coin and continue. She approached the square. "Excuse me Mr. Square, but I've been waiting here, so after you finish could you please let me—"

She stopped when she realised he wasn't listening. "Hello? Mr. Square?" She waved her hand in front of his face but got no reaction except the square pressing the **JUMP** button.

"Ugh." Star finally gave up. The square had only two tokens left, so she would just have to wait until that supply was exhausted. She waited impatiently for him to die three times, using his next coin. Just one token left.

But Pony Head had already lost her patience and decided to try out a different idea. She flew up behind him. "If he can't see, then he can't play!" she explained, grabbing ahold of the square's glasses with her mouth and pulling them off. The square seemed unfazed and played on.

Still holding the glasses in her mouth, she looked at them, back to the square, and back at the glasses incredulously. Then she looked through the glasses.

"They're fake glasses," she determined, sticking her tongue through where the lenses should've been. "Yeah, definitely fake."

"Why would anyone wear fake glasses?" Star asked.

"I dunno. Guess it makes 'em look smart or something."

"Oh, look, he's on his last life!"

All his tokens were gone, and the corner of the screen showed only one life. For the first time, he passed the first level.

Star gasped.

"What, Star, he just passed the level, no biggie."

"No, it's not that. He blinked!"

"What, really? He hasn't blinked one the whole time."

"Yeah, I know, but I _swear_ he blinked. Watch!"

A minute later, the square completed the second level and blinked again.

Again, Star gasped. "He did it again!"

"I saw it! I saw it this time!"

But their excitement wanted as he blinked again and again, passing more and more levels. (Mind you, this was the first time he'd passed the first level, and he had now made it to 75m.)

Star started to groan. Then, done waiting, she pressed the **JUMP** button rapidly until it caused the square to lose. The square blinked, reached up to the top of the game and pulled down a tub full of tokens. He took three out, lined them up in front of him, replaced the tub, and continued to play.

Star face-palmed. "He's gonna be here for hours! Guess we'll just have to find some other game."

"Hey girl, I've got an idea!"

"What?"

"We got dimensional scissors, girl! Let's go hang at The Scum Bucket!"

"Yeah, that sounds great! But what about Marco and Amalia?"

"We'll come back for them."

"But we shouldn't leave them here, right?"

Pony Head lowered her voice. "Look girl, I know they're bothering you somehow. I'm not sure how, but I can tell, and they're bothering me too. So let's just go somewhere we can have fun together."

Star glanced back at Marco and Amalia, just in sight, laughing together and having a good time. "Yeah, Pony. That sounds great," Star said softly.

There was a touching moment between the two, then Pony Head opened a portal and they walked through.

Immediately after, the square looked up at where the two had been. "I'm done, want a turn?" he asked. Then, seeing they were gone, he shrugged and walked off.

* * *

 _Dimension Unknown, Amethyst Arcade,_ Lance Lance Revolution _Floor_

Marco and Amalia each picked up a plastic lance, Marco the red and Amalia the blue.

"So… how do we do this?"

"I don't know. Maybe it'll have instructions?"

They both looked at the black screen with the words **INSERT COIN**. "Oh," Marco finally said, "we don't have any tokens."

"Now we do!" Amalia exclaimed, producing ten tokens with her sword.

"Is that… illegal?"

"Not at Amethyst!"

"You've been here before?"

"Yup, for my eighth birthday. I invited some princesses from around Draclord: Opaline, Skylar, and Crescenta. We had so much fun together." Her voice was longing.

"And now you don't?"

"Things… changed. Opa—that's Opaline; they all had nicknames—she started getting all snobby and mean-girl a few years ago. Then she pressured Kylar into un-friending us. Kylar was so sweet, but Opa ruined her." Amalia shook her head. "Then Cressa and I vowed to stay friends forever and never let anything come between us. It provided me some hope." She sighed. "Then her dad was killed by a wyvern. The wyvern didn't mean it. Her dad was trying to save him from wyvern-hunters. The hunters shot at the wyvern, and it lashed out. A rogue claw-swipe got him in the chest. But anyway, Cressa was under fourteen, too young to become queen. So they left the throne to the next-in-line, her aunt, and moved away. To a different dimension. We kept in touch through dimensional mirror, but eventually she got new friends, and we just kinda forgot about each other.

"Now, that sounds really depressing, but I'm fine with it. I just ended up going to my siblings when I wanted a friend, because I knew my family wasn't going anywhere. And I found Ratha." She smiled widely at her last comment. "They're all I need… but other friends would be great," she said, indicating Marco.

"Yeah, friends do change. Like Jackie… and Janna…. We used to be closer."

"I think we found each other for a reason, the three of us."  
"Yeah, I think so."

"Insert coin to play!" announced the game aloud.

"Oh yeah," Amalia said, remembering the game, "let's play!" She inserted a coin, and the game started.

The two friends danced around on the floor pad, jabbing their lances at each other and dodging. Amalia landed a hit on Marco's stomach, resulting in a "Hey!" from him.

Amalia laughed. "Catch me if you can!" she giggled, avoiding his next jab.

She land another hit on his knee, then ducked under Marco's next strike. "It's a good effort, but I've been trained in combat since I was five!" she teased, jumping over a low jab.

"Well I'll have you know that I've been in karate since I was three!" he retorted. He faked toward Amalia's stomach and landed a hit on her lance-holding arm.

Amalia frowned for a moment. "All right, you asked for it!"

They laughed and continued the game. As it was Marco won by just one strike.

"You surprised me," Amalia admitted. "Good job!"

"Thanks. You were pretty great, too."

"Now let's go find Star."

They walked through the whole arcade but found no sign of her or Pony Head.

"They ditched us," Marco finally concluded. "And we're stuck here."

Amalia smirked. "Actually…." She swung her sword, tearing a portal in reality.

"Impressed. Where's it go?"  
"Earth." Figured that's where they'd look if they couldn't find us back at the arcade."

"Good thinking. Let's go!"

They jumped through the portal and ended up in front of a mall on the outskirts of Echo Creek that Marco recognized. "Why'd you take us here?"

Amalia shrugged. "I was aiming for your house. Must've gone a bit off course. But what is this place?"

"It's a mall. You can eat lunch in the food court, and shop for clothes, and-"

"Let's do that!" Amalia stopped him. "I couldn't pack much, so I only have this-" she gestured down to the loose blue knee-length dress she wore with a wyvern on the chest- "and my princess dress."

"All right, sure."

They walked into the mall, then into a store called JCQuarter's.

One thing caught Amalia's eye immediately. But it wasn't clothes. She pointed at it excitedly. "What is that?!"

Marco blinked. "That's an escalator."

"Cool!" Amalia rushed over, and Marco tried to keep up with her. He did a quick scan and was relieved to find that no one was on the escalator, nor was anyone about to get on.

Amalia arrived, and tried to sprint up the down escalator, legs pounding. She didn't move much. "So cool! See, in my dimension, we call them treadmills. But they're flat, unlike these!"

"Amalia… they're not a workout device. They're basically stairs that just carry you up to the next floor. And you're on the wrong one."

Amalia watched as a woman gave her a wary glance then stepped onto the escalator beside her and began to rise. "Oh." She quickly went to the other side and rode it correctly. Marco stepped on behind her.

Once they reached the top, Amalia got off and started looking through the clothes. She pulled out a thin hooded blue shirt without pockets that was entirely too long on her. "This is perfect!"

"Um, Amalia, don't you think that it's a little—"

She waved her sword until it became scissors, then started snipping at the bottom of the shirt. "Well, with a few alterations…"

"You are definitely buying that now."

"I plan on it," she assured, showing Marco her finished product. She had cut the bottom into a zigzag pattern all the way around, and cut off the long sleeves. Miraculously, everything was seamed together perfectly. As she held it up to her body, Marco realized what it was meant to be worn as: a hooded dress.

"It's actually really creative. I've never seen anything like it." Marco commented.

"It's a traditional Draclan _cochaka,_ Old Draclan for 'hooded dress,'" Amalia explained. "We just call it a hooded dress, now, and it's not as much of a thing anymore. But I love them, and I haven't owned one since I was twelve!"

"It's really cool," said Marco, smiling. "Now let's go pay for it."

"I can conjure up some money."

"No. Like I said at the arcade, that's illegal here."

"I'll pay for it."

They walked up to a register on the top floor. The cashier gave the dress a wary glance, but seeing it had an appropriate price tag, she shrugged it off. Marco handed her some bills, and she gave Marco the dress in a bag, which was then snatched up by Amalia.

As they walked back to the Diaz house, Amalia marveled at her new dress. "I can't wait to get back and put it on!"

But then the ground started to shake, and people started to scream. She and Marco looked around cautiously. They spun around slowly, and, at the same time, they spotted a towering monster. It had four legs radiating from its center (one in front, two on either side, and on in the back), and on the end of them were flat, round pads like an elephant's. Elephantine was the best way to describe it, really; it was at least thirty feet tall and weighed as much as an elephant. Its skin was pale green. At the very top of a thick sausage-shaped mass stretching upward was a single white and black eye the size of a basketball.

"How did that get here?" Marco exclaimed.

"I don't know," replied Amalia, cutting a portal and tossing in her shopping bag. "That should go to your house," she commented on the portal.

"Okay, but what are we gonna do about this thing? It's not like I can just karate it."

"I don't know. I can try a powerful blast spell," she said, suddenly becoming very concentrated as she waved her sword in a circle. A ball of pulsing energy began to grow in the center of the circle.

"Hurry up, it's getting closer!"

"Trying!" She finally stopped up the ball of energy with her sword, whirled it around her head, and launched it at the monster. It traveled for a few seconds, then exploded on the monster's front leg. Almost as if there were in invisible forcefield covering his skin, the spell didn't affect it at all and moved around it. "Ugh, tough skin I guess. Nothing I can't handle," Amalia said. She made a new ball of energy and launched it straight into the monster's eye. It didn't even blink. Amalia's face fell. "It's clearly resistant to Draclan magic."

"Which means what?"

"Which means my magic is even less useful than your karate."

"Yikes."

"We need Star. This monster looks to be Mewman. She'll know what to do."

"But she ditched us, remember? We don't know where she is."

"I have a hunch," she admitted, opening a portal. "Let's go!"

* * *

 _Dimension Unknown, The Scum Bucket_

The instant Pony Head and Star stepped out of the portal, they were immersed in the deafening noise of a rowdy crowd of hundreds, neon colors, and strobe lights. The cylindrical building was packed with creatures on its floor, and even the air was fairly crowded with winged creatures.

"Oh yeah, this is more my style!" shouted Pony Head over the noise.

"Wow, it's really loud!" Star shouted back.

"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" Pony Head suddenly looked at something in the distance. "Ooh, what's that?" She flew off in the direction of… something. Star couldn't tell what. But she had gone… that way. Then she was jostled around and lost sight of her friend. She struggled to see over all the tall creatures around her. Still unable to locate Pony, she started to panic. "Pony? Pony Head, where are you? Pony?" she shouted.

Pony Head finally heard her friend calling and found her. "Sorry girl, you all right? I just saw this guy with a fishbowl-head! So awesome!"

"Really? Cool!"

"What'd you call me about? You seemed worried."

"Just I wanna hang with you. I know we usually wander off but I kinda wanna stay together this time."

Pony Head sighed. "Look girl, there's something I gotta tell ya…"

"What? It's loud!"

"I said I gotta tell you something…"

"I can't hear anything you're saying!"

Pony Head looked around then shouted, "Hold on!"

Star heard this and held on tightly to her friend's neck as she was flown up into one of the tubes radiating out from the building. In here, the clamor of the club was just a small white noise.

"Star, there's something I gotta tell ya," Pony Head said.

Star knew Pony was serious when she used Star's name instead of "girl" or a nickname, and because of how low her voice was. "What is it?" Star said slowly.

"Well… they're after me."

"Who?!"

"St. O's. They've been chasing me for a while. That's why I showed up in front of your door. I was trying to hide from 'em. And that's why I was so quick to leave the arcade."

"Oh."

"Look Star, they're probably gonna get me soon, then they'll lock me up in St. O's and you won't be able to see me. So this might be the last time we see each other for a while. Just thought you should know."

"Oh. Well that's sad. I guess I just wanna spend as much time with you as I can before you have to go. Wanna go have fun together for the last time?"

"Yeah girl, let's party it up like there's no tomorrow!"

Pony Head started back toward the club when, all of a sudden, she froze. "They're here."

"Who's here? The St. O's people?"

"Yeah."

The tube started to rattle as large, heavy figures bounded toward them. They wore masks with red glowing eyes and brown/grey uniforms with white shirts and black gloves.

"Run!" shouted Pony Head.

But just then, Amalia and Marco tumbled in with panicked looks on their faces.

"What is it?" Star asked.

"Giant monster on Earth. My magic doesn't work against it." Amalia responded breathlessly.

"What kind of monster?"

"Green. Fifty feet tall. One eye. Stomping around and crushing things."

"Oh. A _khakolara_. I've never seen one in person, but I've read that there's only one spell to banish it."

"Can you cast it?"

"I think so."

"Then go!" Amalia opened a portal with her sword.

"Oh, so that's how you got here," Star commented, looking back and forth from the portal to the approaching St. Olga's henchmen. She couldn't leave the monster wreaking havoc in Echo Creek, but she couldn't leave her best friend here to be taken to St. O's. Her brain kicked into overdrive, working double-time to produce creative solutions. Not having much time, she settled on a more practical one. "Amalia, Marco, stay here and help Pony get away! I'll be back soon!"

She jumped through the portal, and Amalia closed it. Then she looked to Marco. "Did you understand that?"

He shook his head, but Pony Head provided the answer. "St. O's is after me!"

Luckily, Amalia knew what to do. "We've got two portal-cutting objects, let's get outta here!"

Pony Head bobbed her body up in what seemed to be a shrug then cut a portal, which they all hopped through into a desert-like dimension.

Pony Head responded, "I like your plan, girl, but they've got scissors too!" Pony Head blinked, realizing something. She had just called Amalia _girl_ , a nickname usually reserved for Star.

But she had no time to think about it because the henchmen appeared.

"Go go go!" shouted Amalia.

Pony Head cut another portal, and they landed in another dimension that they barely got a look at before they had to flee. Another portal, another dimension. Another portal, another dimension. So many that they lost count.

"Guys!" Marco shouted, his words broken up by the constant portal jumps. "We gotta—do something—different if we wanna shake them—otherwise we're stuck doing this for—who-knows-how-long!"

They passed through a few more dimensions until they ended up on a planet covered in ice and snow. The goons weren't immediately in sight; maybe they'd taken a wrong turn.

"I've got a plan," Amalia said hurriedly. "I hope this works, I haven't mastered it yet." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and passed her sword from her head to the floor. As the sword fell, the parts of the creature above it were suddenly no longer Amalia's. When the sword hit the ground, a very close imitation of Pony Head floated in front of them, holding a sword in her teeth. She waved the sword around until it took the appearance of dimensional scissors. "It worked! I'll try to lead them away, you go back to _The_ _Scum Bucket_. Wait for me there."

Pony Head and Marco were momentarily stunned, but after a moment the former cut a portal and pushed Marco in.

They landed where they had started, in the same pipe extending from _The Scum Bucket_.

Marco was instantly pacing and fretting. "I hope they haven't caught her yet. Do you think she can transform back into herself? What if she can't, and they really think she's you, and they catch her and take her to St. Olga's, and then we can't get to her, and she'll be stuck there for all eternity!"

 _Yeah right,_ Pony Head wanted to say, but she swallowed her pride. "Look dude, you're overreacting. She'll be all right, 'kay? If they do get her, then I'll walk right up there and demand that they take the real one instead. After all, can't have everyone thinking she's me, cause I'm the more awesome one."

"You'd do that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I would."

Marco smiled. "Thanks. I feel better now."

Pony Head felt a sort of warm feeling from hearing that.

Then all of a sudden, the St. Olga's goons reappeared. In a flash, the dimensional scissors went clattering away. One lunged at Marco, but he spin-kicked him away. Another came and he landed another kick. But soon the two goons overwhelmed him, pinning him down. The third one got a hold of Pony Head. Marco struggled, but he couldn't free himself. The third henchman opened a portal and motioned to the other goons to follow him.

Just before the third henchman stepped through, Pony Head shouted, "Goodbye Marco! Say bye to Star and 'Malia for me!"

Before Marco could respond, she was gone.

A moment later, Amalia stepped through a portal, herself again. "All of a sudden the guys ditched me. Is Pony…" her voice faltered at the obvious absence of her new friend. "Oh."

It seemed like the situation couldn't get any worse until Star stepped into the space through her own portal. "The monster's gone!" she announced happily. But just like Amalia, her face fell when she noticed that Pony Head was gone. "They got her, huh?"

"We tried our best," sighed Marco.

"I know. It's just… I never even got to say goodbye to her." Marco put an arm around her, then Amalia did the same. Star pulled them all together in a group hug.

When it ended, Star said, "I guess it's all right. I have you guys."

"Yeah," Amalia agreed.

"You do," Marco assented.

"Well, let's get back to Echo Creek then." Star picked up the scissors from the floor and cut a portal. The three best friends walked through the portal home, carrying one less member than they'd set out with.

* * *

 **That's it for 5! This one was clearly modeled after Party with a Pony. Chapter six will be written by Keyblade, I think, and I'm not sure what he'll want to do, but it will probably model another episode, not necessarily the one after Party with a Pony.**

 **I'll be back in chapter 6-or-7-ish. Until we meet again!**


	6. Chapter 6: The two Princess Cupids

Hey you guys! Star's Keyblade here, bringing you the next chapter of Star and Amalia vs the Forces of Darkness! Now I hoped everyone enjoyed the chapter our friendly neighborhood beta-reader Mario did, cause it was very well done. This chapter we'll be going through the episode Match Maker, but there will be a couple of changes since Amalia will… well you'll just have to read it for yourselves to find out. Enjoy!

 **Chapter 6:The Star and Dragon Match Makers**

 **(Echo Creek High School)**

It was another sunny day at Echo Creek High School as Star, Marco, and Amalia were having a conversation while other students went about their own business. Amalia was wearing her new blue hooded dress with black boots that had silver buckles and stars on them. She also wore blue bike shorts and a silver earring with a long, thin, spike with two shorter spikes on either side. A small, circular, sky blue gem was set in the upper half of the spike with a serpentine dragon with its wings raised perched on the top of the spike.

"So let me get this straight, because you like hoodies and the color red, you bought a dozen of these?" Amalia asks pointing to hoodie her friend was wearing right now.  
"Well, yeah." Marco answered. "Is it weird or something?"

"N-No! it's just, well… it just seems to me like your outfit selection is a bit… limited… is all I'm saying." Amalia said. "If you want, I could always give a couple of your hoodies a quick makeover to—"

"Not necessary, but thank you," Marco said instantly.  
"Oh come on Marco, I don't think you have to worry if Amalia's the one giving your look a little sparkle?" Star said as she looked at Amalia's hooded dress. "I mean look at her outfit? It looks so amazing! Hey, do you think you could do the same thing for a couple of my clothes after school today?" Star asked her friend excitedly.

"Yeah, sure Star."

"Yeah!"

As the three continue walking, they suddenly hear someone say "Hey, it's those magical girls!" as a group of student walk by them waving to Star and Amalia who wave back at them.

"Hi new friends!" "Hey you guys!" they both say as the group passes them.

"Well looks like you two had no problems making friends fast, huh?" Marco commented as they stopped by their lockers.

"Yeah, everyone's so cool here Marco." Star said happily. "It makes me wish that my parents tossed me out of the castle years ago!"

"Um, while I'm not all for getting tossed out of my home, I still agree with you Star. The people here seem really cool." Amalia said in agreement.

"Oh, well you guys haven't even met the coolest guys." Marco said pointing over to two boys.

The first boy had curly brown hair, large circular black-rimmed glasses and tan skin and was wearing a blue and white-striped shirt, brown shorts and olive sandals. The second boy was short and overweight with orange hair, freckles, and olive green eyes. He was wearing a dark gray shirt, gray sweatpants with a white stripe on each side and white tie strings, and dark gray shoes with white tips.

"And, who would those two be?" Amalia asked curiously.

"That's Alfonzo and Ferguson, my other two cool friends here at school." Marco said.

They saw the two boys try to get the attention of a girl who was walking past them, by having Ferguson lift his shirt up, showing a face he drew on it and making it talk. This unfortunately only got him a slap to the face and… the belly.

"They're usually… cooler." Marco said shaking his head in embarrassment as Star and Amalia both had a thought running through their heads.  
"Hmm, hey Amalia, are thinking what I'm thinking right now?" Star said with a knowing smile.

"If you mean we try and see if we can fix Ferguson up? Then yeah, I was just thinking that myself," Amalia said with same smile on her face.

"No you two, just… no." Marco said.

The three then hear the sound of wheels rolling on the ground headed in their direction. They looked and saw a girl with tan skin, mint green eyes, and freckles on her face. She was wearing a green and white raglan shirt, an orange seashell necklace, cyan jean shorts, green and white knee socks, and blue and white sneakers. She had shoulder-length platinum blond hair that had an aqua streak on the left side, which was covered by a purple helmet that was on her head as she rode on her skateboard.

"Jackie… Lynn… Thomas," Marco said in starstruck affection as the girl named Jackie rode closer.

"Hey Star Butterfly and what's up Amalia," Jackie said as she rode past them down the hall.

"Hi Jackie!" "Morning Jackie!" they both said happily as she passed them. They both then saw the look on Marco's face as he looked in the direction that Jackie went, and got the same idea.

"You know Star, how about instead of Ferguson," Amalia said as she grabbed Marco by his arm, jolting him from his lovesick trance. "We fix Marco here up, huh?"

"That's just what I was thinking too!" Star agreed excitedly with her blue-haired friend, making Marco was confused.

"What?" he said still confused by what Amalia was getting at.

"Oh come on Marco, it'll be fine. You're talking to a girl who was nicknamed "Dragon Cupid of Romance." Amalia said proudly.

"Yeah, plus I'm almost as good with matchmaking as I am with magic." Star said just as confidently while tossing her wand between her hands, which caused it to discharge an accidental blast. Amalia quickly ducks, avoiding it, but Marco was not as lucky as his face gets scorched a little.

"I… think I'll pass," he said as Amalia put out the small flame that was on his head.

* * *

 **(Classroom)**

As everyone in class was either talking or doing their own thing, Star, Marco and Amalia were sitting with each other.

"Guys! Guys! Look!" Star said, getting her two friend to look at her desk, where they saw that Star had drawn something on it.

"You drew your name?" Marco said a bit perplexed.

"With a star, inside a butterfly with three hearts… and a spider." Star said.

"Oh, that's… nice." Marco said.

"Yeah, that's pretty neat Star." Amalia said. "I actually drew something on my desk too. Here, take a look."

Star and Marco looked over at Amalia's desk and saw a picture of what looked like a unicorn with a beard and bushy tail with lighting drawn all around it.  
"That looks so cool!" Star said.

"Yeah, but… what is it? A bearded unicorn or something?" Marco asked.

"Nope, this is called a Kirin, it's type of elder dragon from Draclord." Amalia said.

"Uh, don't you mean Wyvern?" Star asked.

"No Star, Kirins are 100% dragons." "Wow! Really!? Your dimension has real dragons and they all look like unicorns!?"

"Well not all of them, Star. Some look like whales, others look like snakes and I think a few resemble squids I think? Those are only a few elder dragons I know." Amalia said as Star's eyes grew wide with amazement.

"Your dimension sounds really interesting, Amalia." Marco said.

"Marco's right, maybe we could go there and see if we can find one those old dragons." Star said, already thinking about the how much fun it would be.  
"I'm… not so sure about that, I can't just show up back on Draclord like it's nothing." Amalia said. "I'm supposed to stay here on earth while Gabranth trains me to use my sword."

"Oh come on, Amalia, pleasssee?" Star begged.

"Hmm, well…I guess if we're sneaky about it, we could visit for a few hours."

"Yay!" Star cheered as she stretched over and hugged Amalia.  
"Are you sure about this?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, it's okay Marco. We just have to be careful not to be spotted by anyone who knows me while we're there." Amalia said as Star kept hugging her.

The two were then startled from their hug when their teacher, Miss Skullnick, slammed their graded test papers on their desk with an embittered look on her face.

"As you can see? class, most if not all of you have done a completely horrendous job on your tests." she said bitterly as she handed out the other test papers.

"Not me. Look guys, I got an 'F' for fantastic!" Star said happily showing Marco and Amalia her test paper that had an F that was circled. "I got an 'A' for… I guess acceptable?" Amalia said confused as she showed her graded test.

"Uh Star? That's an 'F' for fail." Marco said which confused the Mewman girl. "And Amalia, that 'A' means you got a passing grade."

"Oh, Okay then! Yes!" the young Draconoid cheered although still a bit confused, while Star still looked confused herself.

"What? They don't have tests on Mewni or Draclord?" Marco asked them.

"Well I haven't attended the classes at the school of my kingdom, so I really don't know much about grades." Amalia said.  
"Wait, Amalia your kingdom has a school?" "Like this school here?" Marco and Star asked, not expecting this.

"Yeah, it's called Sora Ryūjin Academy, Draclan for 'Sky Dragon King' Academy." Amalia clarified. "It's a school where kids around the age of five attend and learn about Draclord. It also doubles as the training site for the kingdom's knights."  
"Wow, that sounds like the kind of school I'd want to go to." Star said, liking what she heard about her friend's kingdom.

"Okay, so if your kingdom has a school, why didn't you go there?" Marco asked.

"It just wasn't for me, I prefer a first-hand experience lesson." Amalia said. "So Marco, what grade did you get?"  
"Only the best grade you can get, An A+ with a smiley face," Marco said proudly, showing the two girls his test paper that indeed had an A+ with a smiley face at the top.  
"Wow, look at mister egghead over here?" Amalia said teasingly as Marco rolled his eyes.  
"Ooooh, I want the best grade too!" Star said as she grabbed her test paper and walked up to Skullnick.  
"Wait, Don't!" Marco said trying to stop her as he fell on top of his desk while Amalia got up herself. "Wait, Amalia why are you getting up too?" "Well if Star wants to get the best grade too, I don't see the harm in asking, right?" She said as followed after Star. "This is not going to be good." Marco said worriedly.

As Miss Skullnick was writing on the chalkboard, Star and Amalia came up behind her.

"Oh Miss Skullnick?" "Excuse us," They both asked as Miss Skullnick crushed the chalk in her hand before turning around to face the two girls with an angry look crossing her face.

"Hello, my friend here would like to ask you a favor." Amalia said indicating Star to the red-haired teacher.

"Hey Skullzy," Star says. "I was wondering if you could do me a tiny favor, and turn my 'F' into an 'A' please?" she asked nicely.  
"Your whining about a lousy grade!?" Skullnick said, already starting to yell. "I finally got a guy with a boat and he left me at the dock!" she shouted making Star and Amalia use their test papers to shield their faces from saliva that came from her shouting.

"The… dock?" Star said confused.

"Maybe she means an air dock? …probably?" Amalia guessed, confused herself.

"The dock isn't the important part!" she yelled but Amalia was lost in thought about what she meant by dock to notice and Star was busy chewing on her wand. "Oh forget it. I guess I'm doomed to be alone on dryland."

When Star and Amalia hear this, they both smile and look to each other with the same idea in their heads.

"Bright idea here! What if Star casts a spell to find you the perfect guy, and you can give her the perfect grade!" Amalia said jubilantly while Skullnick looked confused.

"What?" the red teacher asked, lost at what was going on.

"How about that, Star? That kind of spell should be doable right?" Amalia asked.

"Yeah, that's no problem! Watch this!" Star said as she began to wave her wand. **"Man Magnet Love Storm!"**

"Wait, wait a min-" Miss Skullnick protested but was cut off as she was zapped by a green ray from Star's wand, which ended with a flash. But when the flashed subsided, Star, Amalia and the rest of the class gasped in utter shock, as Miss Skullnick now had pale green skin, longer hair in a brighter shade of red, yellow eyes, turquoise lips, an underbite with protruding fangs, longer ears and nose, and a pink gemstone embedded in her navel.

"Holy Deviljhos!" Amalia shouted in surprise. "Okay, uh Star? Was the spell meant to do this?" "Uh no, it's not meant to do this!" Star said equally shocked.

"Star! Amalia! What did you guys do!?" Marco asked in a panicked voice as he ran up to the two girls.

"Umm, that's uh… Star, what is that exactly?" Amalia asked the blonde.

"I… I think I turned her into a troll." Star said.

There was a few seconds of silence until someone shouted "Star Butterfly and Amalia Dalmasca rule!" getting everyone to suddenly start cheering before Miss Skullnick screamed in horror once she saw her appearance.

"I'm hideous!" Miss Skullnick screamed in distress.

"Quick! One of you guys change her back! Now!" Marco said urgently to Star and Amalia.  
"Oh, okay just… um, Amalia maybe you should take this one!" Star said.

"Huh!? Why me!?"

"It was your idea to use a spell." Star said as Amalia groaned knowing her friend was right.

"For the love of… okay. Just give a sec here, umm… okay. I think I have a spell that should fix this." Amalia said as she summoned her sword to her hand.  
"Should?" Marco said slightly worried.

"Well it's my first time turning someone back from being a troll! Sheesh!" Amalia said as the gem of her sword began to glow.  
 **"Revenant Winds of Returning!"** Amalia said as the blade of her sword shined white. A blue mini tornado soon appeared on the tip of the sword, before quickly growing and swallowing up the three teens and their transformed teacher before disappearing, leaving the other students confused and awestruck.

* * *

 **(Diaz Residence, Star and Amalia's room)**

"What exactly were those two girls doing in this room to leave it in such a chaotic state?" Gabranth said tiredly as he was in the process of cleaning up the bedroom Amalia shared with Star. Which in his opinion, had looked like a battle with two Diabloses took place in.

Gabranth was currently wearing a black polo shirt, tan-colored casual pants and leather slip-on shoes.

"I owe thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Diaz for helping me pick clothing that's more akin to this dimension." he said. "I'm also intrigued by those… escalators their marketplaces seem to have. Perhaps I should inform her majesty of them when I give my report on-"

Gabranth was cut off when a tornado suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, pushing him back a bit as he shielded himself with his arms.

"W-What in the seven realms of Draclord is this!?" he said in surprise.

Once he felt the winds of the tornado die down, he lowered his arms and saw Amalia, along with Star, Marco and… a troll woman wearing odd clothing standing where the tornado once was. After a couple of seconds, the troll screamed suddenly before running around the room crying.

"O-kay, any clue where we are?" Amalia asked the two teens.  
"Nope, no clue." Star said.

"Amalia, you just brought us back to the house!" Marco explained as the two girls looked around and saw that they were indeed back at the Diaz house when they realized they were in their shared bedroom.

"Oh yeah, well that's a convenient spell, huh?" Amalia said.

"Yeah, maybe I could learn to do that too. It could really come in handy when I don't feel like using my legs." Star said as their troll of a teacher scuttled like a crab behind them.

"My apologies for interrupting your conversation my fair princesses and young Marco, but could one of you please explain to me what has happened here?"  
Amalia froze up when she, Star and Marco saw Gabranth walk over to them as he dusted his shirt off.

"Oh Gabranth! Haha, I wasn't… expecting to find you in here too. What's up?" Amalia said in a nervously cheery voice as she hide her sword behind her back.

"If you must know princess, young Marco's parents went out for the day and tasked me with watching over their home. They also asked if I could clean the bedrooms, which I agreed to." Gabranth said. "I had very little to do when it came to cleaning their room as well as their son's. But when I came to the room you and Princess Butterfly shared, well… you can see for yourself," he said indicating to the mess around them.

"This? Oh come on, I've made waaay bigger messes than this." Amalia said.

"Yeah come on Gabbie, our room doesn't look like that big of a mess here." Star said as the Judge Magister gave her a confused look.  
"I… beg your pardon, Princess Butterfly? But what… did you say?"

"Oh, Gabbie? That's just my nickname for you since trying to say your actual name is a little tough. Is it okay if I call you that?" Star asked kindly, giving her friend's guard the puppy dog eyes.

Gabranth just sighed before he said, "Very well you can call me… Gabbie. Just please refrain from using that… look." He said as Star clapped happily. "It's very… difficult to handle."

"Oh really now? In that case," Amalia said before giving Gabranth the same look, making him very uncomfortable as Star and Marco laughed.

While outside the bedroom window, Buff Frog and Ba'Gamnan's brother Gijuk were spying on the teens and Judge Magister.

"Looks like the lot of them are distracted with whatever nonsense they're going on about." The green-scaled bangaa said quietly.

"Good, we should let Ludo and brother of yours know," Buff Frog said as he cut open a portal with his scissors and walked through with Gijuk following behind him.

* * *

 **(Mewni, Ludo's Castle, Throne room)**

The portal soon open up as the two spies walked in and found Ludo sitting on his throne of pillows eating ice cream, while Gijuk found Ba'Gamnan and his other siblings talking by the far-off wall before they all noticed them.

"Good, your back," Ludo said while he licked his ice cream. "You both better have something good for coming back so quickly." Ba'Gamnan said sneering, making his brother tremble a little whereas Buff Frog just rolled his eyes.

"Ludo, Master, Star Butterfly and other princess have come home from school early today." Buff Frog said.

"Aye, and those pups along with the girl's bodyguard are distracted with some nonsense." Gijuk told his brother.

"Distracted ye say?" Ba'Gamnan said pondering for a moment.

"Excellent!" Ludo said loudly with glee. "This is a perfect opportunity! No one's at their best when they're distracted!" Ludo said as he licked his frozen treat eagerly. "Finally, I'll get my hands on that wand! Oh and… you can get that sword you want from the other princess you want."

"You think it'll be that easy to pilfer from those brats just because they're off-guard?" the head hunter said, glaring up at the small bird monster. "Did you not hear that the girl's blasted guard is with them? He's far more skilled in combat than that boy and far greater with magicks than the brats!"

"Well, if you have an idea for getting rid of him so we can get what we want, then let's hear it, oh great head hunter?" Ludo said mockingly, which made Buff Frog and his two other henchmen snicker quietly.

Ba'Gamnan was going to retort when he suddenly got an idea.

"Hmm, for once you may have a point," he said as a wicked smirk formed on his snot.

"Wait, I do? I mean o-of course I do!" Ludo said confidently before noticing Ba'Gamnan use his own pair of scissors to open a portal. "Wait, where are you going?"

"To get some extra muscle to help get me that sword. Rinok!" Ba'Gamnan shouted as his sister came forward. "You're coming to help me snare what we'll need." "Aye brother," the female bangaa said as she grabbed her staff. "Bwagi, you and Gijuk take the others and follow this noisy runt's lot to attack those brats. And be wary not to fight that Judge Magister, ye won't last five seconds with him," he instructed, ignoring Ludo's ranting about being called a runt.

"Aye brother!" Bwagi said as he and Gijuk went to gather the others.

"Hey Runto," Ba'Gamnan said, looking up at Ludo.

"Don't call me that!"

"Whatever! How long do you think you can keep those girls and the guard busy for with my men helping?" the head hunter asked.

"Hmm depends, what do have up your sleeve?" Ludo asked back. "Something to even our chances. Let's go, Rinok," he said as he and his sister entered the portal as it closed.

Ludo was about yell again before he thought about what Ba'Gamnan said earlier when he was talking to his siblings.  
"Did any of you catch the part when he said about "snaring" something?" Ludo asked.

"Not sure. You want me to follow after them boss?" Buff Frog asked.

"No, just get the others and let's get me that wand," Ludo ordered as the frog monster saluted him before going to do as asked.

* * *

 **(Earth, Diaz residence, Star and Amalia's bedroom)**

Back in the girl's room on Earth, Miss Skullnick was quietly crying in a chair after Gabranth talked her down.

"My most humble apologies Miss Skullnick, please be assured we will see what can be done about your… condition." Gabranth said politely before looking back at Star, Amalia,and Marco before gesturing for the three to follow him to the far side of the room out of the earshot.  
"Now from what you three have told me, it would seem that the spell Princess Star cast on your teacher falls into the category of Transmutation magic." Gabranth said. "Unfortunately, I have little experience in that magic, so I have no ideas on how to reverse her transformation."

"Isn't there something we can do?" Amalia asked. "Maybe there's a reversal spell in our books that could—"

"Possibly make the situation worse." Gabranth said, cutting Amalia off. "As I see it, the best option would be the call Princess Star's mother and ask her on how to undo this."  
"I think he's right guys," Marco said in agreement. "We can't keep stalling like this."

"Nonononononononononono!" Star said in panicked fear. "I can't call my mom, if she finds out about this she'll send me to St.—" Before Star could even finish, Amalia had instantly covered her mouth with a similar look of terror on her face.

"Star, I have never begged anyone for anything before in my life." Amalia said as Marco looked back at Gabranth and saw him shake his head as she continued. "So for the first time, I am begging you. Do. Not. Say. That. Name." She said each word desperately and took her hands off of Star's mouth as the two girls hugged each other in understanding fear of the place they both feared to even say.

"Uh... do you know-" Marco asked Amalia's guard in confusion.  
"If I had to guess, they're both referring to a… "certain place," they both don't wish to be sent to." Gabranth said, sighing.  
"So then if we can't ask Star's mom for help, then who else can we ask?" Marco says.  
"Wait, we could call Ishtar!" Amalia said.

"Ishtar?" Star said confused.

"Who's that?" Marco asked.

"Princess Amalia is referring to her little sister and second princess to the Bahamut Kingdom, Ishtar Dalmasca." Gabranth explained to the two.

"Exactly! Ishtar is like an expert when it comes to transmutation magicks, I bet she knows how to fix this." Amalia said before running over to her mirror with Star quickly following behind her.

"Should we let her do this?" Marco asked Gabranth. "If Princess Star does not wish to enlist the help of her mother out of fear of being sent to… that place I can't mention here, then Princess Ishtar is our next possible choice." "And you didn't say this because?" "Because, my dear boy, I had a feeling that Amalia would suggest her sister in both a way to make sure both she and Princess Star are not caught." Gabranth said with a bit of amusement in his voice.

As Amalia was about to make call, Star tapped her on the shoulder to ask her something.

"Umm, are you sure we should call your little sister? I mean what if she tells your parents after you call her?" Star said.

"Hey don't worry about that, I can't tell you how many times I've majorly messed up and Ishtar has never ratted me out once. That's why I can always count on her when I need something kept secret from my parents." Amalia said.

"Whoa, Amalia your so lucky! I wish I had a little sister that would do stuff like that for me." Star said. "Well come on, call her, call her!"

"Okay, okay, I'm calling." She said as she faced the mirror. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, call Ishtar."

 ** _"Calling Ishtar."_ **After a few seconds, a little girl around ten with long dark-blue hair done up in twin ponytails, pale-green and bright-gold eyes appeared on the mirror.

"Amalia! Hey big sister, how are doing?" Ishtar said. "Hey Illya, come over here. Amalia's on my mirror phone!" she called. Not a second later, another little girl with pale-blonde hair and pale-green eyes soon appeared on the mirror.

"Big sis! Big sis! It's so nice hear from you!" Illya said excitedly.

"It's good to hear from you both too, how's everything back home in the kingdom?" Amalia asked.

"Well nothing else has blown up, if that's what you mean, since you left." Ishtar said jokingly to her big sister, who rolled her eyes playfully.

"Ha-ha, very funny."

"Um Amalia? Who's the girl standing next to you with the sparkling eyes?" Illya asked.

Amalia glanced over and had to hold back a laugh when she saw that Star had the biggest smile on her face and her eyes were indeed sparkling.

"Oh my Gosh! You two are so adorable!" Star said, gushing as Illya laughed cutely while Ishtar looked confused and a little creeped out.  
"Uh Amalia? Who's this crazy person with you?" Ishtar asked.

"Relax little sis, She's not crazy, just usually very energetic. Much like you and Illya when you both eat too much candy."

"Hey!" Ishtar said, puffing her cheeks out as Illya laughed.

"Anyway, this my friend and roommate Star Butterfly," Amalia introduced.  
"Oh, well hello, I'm Ishtar, Amalia's littler sister," said Ishtar. "And my name Illyasviel, but you can call me Illya. I'm her baby sister, it's nice to meet you!" Illya said.

"It's nice to meet you too, you little cutie pies you!" Star said gushing again.  
"Star's a princess too, she's also the same age as me and got her family's magic wand the around the same time I got our family's sword." Amalia said.

"Wow really? That's amazing!" Illya said.

"How is it that you get sent to a place at the same time another princess gets sent there? I swear, fate must really like playing around with you, big sister." Ishtar said. "Now Amalia, you and me know that I'm the first person you come to when you mess something up. So what did you do this time?"

"Yeah, here's the thing, I'm not the one who needs help. Star does." Amalia said pointing to Star who waved at the little girls.  
"Huh? She needs help?"

"Uh yeah. You see-" As Amalia was about to explain, the four heard a crashing sound, followed by seeing Marco and Gabranth, who was wearing his Judge Magister armor run pass.

"Uhh…" Illya said confused. "What was that!?" Ishtar said.

"Ha, could you two hold on a second?" Amalia said quickly as she closed the curtains on her mirror, as she and Star looked over and saw Marco and Gabranth standing next to a giant hole in the wall. "She jumped out the window, didn't she?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"More like crashed through it!" Marco said. "We gotta go after her!" Star said as she and Marco jumped out the window after their teacher.

"Gabranth, could you explain what we need to Ishtar and Illya while we get Skullzy? Thanks!" Amalia said as she dived out the hole in the room after Star and Marco.

"Gabranth?" Ishtar called from behind the curtains. He walked over and pulled the curtains apart, revealing the two other heirs to his kingdom. One of which who had a deadpan look on her face. "I'm going to guess and say my sister and her new friend caused a mess?"

"You expected anything less, my princess?" He said as Ishtar sighed. "I won't tell mom or dad. So what does she need?"

* * *

As Miss Skullnick ran across the backyard, she looked to see if she was being chased and ran into something.

"What the heck did I run into!?" she ranted as she got up and dusted herself off. When she looked up, she came face to face with Ratha, who was just waking up and was now looking at the her. But before she could start screaming, Marco jumped on her back. Soon followed by Star and Amalia who jumped on Marco's back.

"Good work, Ratha, you stopped our teacher long enough for us to catch her!" "Yeah! Good boy, Rath!" Star and Amalia said as they got off Marco and petted the Rathalos thankfully.

"Oh blagh! Get a room already!" a familiar voice said, pretending to throw up.

Star, Amalia, Marco, Ratha, and Miss Skullnick looked and saw Ludo and his monster army, along with Ba'Gamnan's crew, standing in front of them.

"Ludo! What are you doing here?" Star said glaring at her tiny arch nemesis.

Before Ludo could answer, Bwagi and Gijuk walked up to the front and cut him off.

"You runts should already know what we're after." "Aye, but from what we're seeing, you look to be a bit preoccupied," the two bangaa said.

"And who the heck are you, jerk?" Star said, sending the two a glaring look.

"They're Bwagi and Gijuk, Ba'Gamnan's brothers." Amalia said as she stood next to Star with Marco right behind them. "So where is scale face and your sister, huh? What? Me, Star, Marco and Ratha scared them so bad, they sent you two instead? They must really be shaking in their scales." Amalia said, which made Star laugh a bit.

But Bwagi and Gijuk just smirked.

"Oh don't worry yourselves," Gijuk said.

"Aye, brother's planning a little… surprise for you lot. But for right now, let's have a little fun! Attack!" Bwagi shouted as his brother's crew charged at the three teens and Rathalos.

"Get me that wand!" Ludo shouted as his army also charged at them as well.

 **"Dagger Crystal Heart Attack!" "Aqua Twister Uproar!"** Star and Amalia shouted as Star jumped into the air and fired heart-shaped daggers from her wand while Amalia swung her sword forward creating a water tornado that swept up a large amount of both attacking groups, which held them in place long enough for Star's to crash into them, knocking them out of the twister and onto the ground in a groaning heap.

Meanwhile, Marco had just knocked out a couple monsters from Ludo's side before two red-scaled bangaa wielding swords and one grey-scaled bangaa wielding a spear came towards him.

"I'm obligated to warn you guys, I'm a green belt with a stripe," Marco said as he tied a white headband around his forehead. The three lizard men laughed at him before they charged at him. However, Marco quickly picked up a rake and used it to block the two red bangaa's sword attacks, then he used it to hit them both in their heads, knocking them out. Marco quickly jumped back just as the grey-scaled bangaa swung his spear down at him.  
"Hold still you runt!" he shouted as he thrusts his spear at the half-Latino boy. Marco quickly dodged to the left and swung the metal part of the rake on the lizard man's foot, making him yell in pain which gave him the chance to knock him out with a swift strike to the head.

"And that's how you take out the—" Marco was about to say before he looked behind himself and saw a minotaur-like monster approach him. "Oh… great."

Star and Amalia were quickly thinning out the majority of both armies thanks to Ratha's fire blasts. As the Amalia countered a sword swing, she looked over and saw Marco being overpowered by one of Ludo's minions.

"Ratha! Go help Marco!" she shouted. When Ratha looked over and saw his owner's friend being overwhelmed, he leaped over and head-butted the monster, sending him flying into Miss Skullnick, who was trying to sneak away. As he got back up and surprisingly offered to help her up, the two looking longingly into each other's eyes.  
As Star fired a couple of magic blasts, she looked and saw how Miss Skullnick and the minotaur monster were looking at each other.

"Oh my gosh! Hey Amalia! Come look at this!" Star shouted, calling the blue-haired girl over just as she sent two more bangaa flying into Bwagi and Gijuk.

"What's up Star?"

"Look at that."

Amalia looked to where Star was pointing to, and when she saw how Miss Skullnick and the minotaur were looking at each other, she felt a smile form on her face as she looked on while also blasting two of Ludo's other monsters away that tried to attack them.

"Star, I believe our matchmaking skills are needed." Amalia said. "I believe you are right, great Dragon Cupid of Romance," Star said jokingly.

"Alright then, let's take care of Miss Skullnick and then see if we can get the big guy over there to notice." Star said.

"Yes, Commander Star!" Amalia said as she mock-saluted Star before they went running over to Miss Skullnick, who was trying to jump the fence.

"Oh Miss Skullnick!" Star said, getting her teacher's attention when she was half-way over the fence.

"What do you two want now?" she said looking at the two girls.

"See that monster over there, the one who helped you up?" Amalia said pointing to said minotaur monster that just threw Marco. Luckily Ratha caught him before he hit the fence. "He thinks your cute," she said.

"Really?" Miss Skullnick said cheerily as she eagerly climbed off the fence. "What should I do!?"

"Wait right here please?" Star said as she and Amalia ran over to the minotaur monster as he was drawing his sword against Marco and Ratha.

"Timeout!" Amalia said, jumping in between the three.

"Uh, what?" Marco said as he and Ratha looked confused. They then saw Star whisper something to the minotaur monster they were fighting. Whatever she said had made him happy, because he soon ran off towards Miss Skullnick.

"Mission accomplished!" Star cheered as she and Amalia high-fived, further confusing Marco and the Rathalos.

The celebrating was soon cut short when a portal opened up and Ba'Gamnan and Rinok walked out with the Ba'Gamnan and Rinok each holding onto a chain.

"Oh? Looks like we made it back just in time." The head hunter said, eyeing the three teens and the Rathalos.

"Yeah, just in time for us to kick your tails again, long ears." Amalia said mockingly.

"And where the heck did you go off to, huh!?" Ludo yelled as he and what little of his army remained ran over to Ba'Gamnan, followed by his two brothers and his crew.

"Quit your squawking, I brought us a little something to even the odds here. Word of advice, you may want to stand back!" Ba'Gamnan shouted as he yanked on the chain that lead to the portal hard.

A deafening roar was heard as a large, yellow/blue striped, quadrupedal creature leaped out of the portal and landed in front of the teens and Rathalos before blowing them back with another piercing roar.

"What the heck is that!?" Marco said in absolute terror as he, Star, Amalia, and Ratha got to their feet.

"Ba'Gamnan, you freaking cheater!" Amalia yelled as she glared at the bangaa head hunter. "You couldn't beat us with your band of misfits so you go and wrangle yourself a Tigrex!?"

"Heh, this big fella isn't the only one I brought with me, pup. Rinok!" He shouted.

Rinok then yanked on the chain she was holding, as a another quadrupedal creature came lunging out of the portal. This one had black scales, black fur and nightmarish red eyes, giving it the look and style of a predatory black panther.

"Amalia, what's that one!?" Star said as she held her wand at the ready. "A Nargacuga, a very fast and very dangerous type of wyvern from Draclord. Just like that Tigrex," Amalia said as she readied her sword.

"So this guy brought two dangerous monsters from your home!?" Marco said as he kept his guard up.

"Pretty much yeah. These guys are basically the norm from Draclord."

"Well these guys are still going down! Because I'm not normal!" Star said as she started the charge up a spell.  
 **"Thermonuclear Butterfly-"**

"I don't think so pup! Cover ears boys!" Ba'Gamnan said as he and his group quickly covered they're ears.

"Wait why did he say—" Star was cut off as the Tigrex let loose an extremely loud roar, not only stopping Star from casting her spell, but also deafening her, Marco, Amalia and Ratha.

"Now your turn, pretty!" Rinok said as she let the Nargacuga off its chain. The red-eyed monster quickly closed in and swung it's spiked tail at Star, sending her flying into Marco and Amalia who were recovering from the Tigrex's roar.

"Star!" "Are you alright!? Say something!" they said in concern as they held her.

"Ugh, does saying 'ow my poor tummy and chest hurt' count as saying something, guys?" Star said as she weakly smiled at her friends who were both glad she was alright.

"I had no idea you were bringing such powerful monsters!" Ludo said gleefully. "With these things, I'll have the wand in no—"

Ludo was then cut off as something fell from the sky and impacted in the ground, creating a dust cloud.  
When the dust settled, standing between the three teens and the two beasts was Gabranth in his full Judge Magister armor.

"Princess, you and the young man are un-harmed I hope?" he said looking back.

"Aside from me and Marco having a constant ringing in our ears and Star getting putted like a ball, yes we're peachy." Amalia said sarcastically as her teacher sighed and looked back at the opposing side.

"Ba'Gamnan, I figured it's was you. Still after the royal sword after all this time? Did you not learn your lesson during your last attempts when her majesty was its wielder?"  
"Well, if it isn't his honor, the Great Judge Magister Gabranth." The head hunter sneered. "You're exactly why I brought these two beauties here with me, today that sword will be mine!"

Ba'Gamnan then commanded the Tigrex and Nargacuga to attack. As both monsters lunged at Gabranth, he swiftly pulled his Chaos Blade from his side and slashed the air in front of him, creating a portal. A fiery blast then shot out of the portal sending the two monsters flying back.

"What!?" Ba'Gamnan shouted in shock as his two pets were knocked back.

Then a large bipedal creature with dark red scales covering its body, two rows of blue, bony plates running along its back and head, powerful looking legs and a huge, sword-like tail stomped out of the portal. Star, Marco and Amalia's mouths fell open when they saw towering in front of them.

"G-Gabranth! I-Is that… is that!" Amalia becoming a stuttering mess as her eyes sparkled with amazement.

"Yes Princess, this would be the surprise I mentioned before. This is the rare Brute Wyvern known as the Glavenus." Gabranth said as the creature roared. "Saber, end this quickly!" Gabranth said.

The Glavenus now known as Saber, swung the flat part of his sword-like tail and once again sent the Tigrex and Nargacuga crashing into both Ludo, Ba'Gamnan and their groups and sending them into the portal as it closed.

"Well done." Gabranth said as the wyvern lowered its head to allow him to pet it.

"That. Was. So. Awesome!" Star shouted before wincing in pain remembering she was hurt.

Amalia playfully rolled her eyes as she made her sword glow green before waving it over Star, Marco, Ratha and herself, healing any scratches and bruises they had.

"Thanks Amalia," "Yeah, thanks." Star and Marco said as Ratha also nuzzled against Amalia in thanks too.

"By the way, princess," Gabranth said getting the three teens' attention. "Before I came to your aid, I thought it best to cast a barrier spell over your teacher for protection. It should have dispelled by now."

"Okay, so then where?" Star, Marco and Amalia then saw Miss Skullnick and the Minotaur monster walk over to them with their arms interlocked with each other. Marco cringed a little while Star and Amalia looked happy for their teacher.

"Congrats, Miss Skullnick, on the hook up!" Amalia said.

"Yeah, so now that me and Amalia hooked you up, how about that 'A'?" Star asked.

"Honey please, I'd give you an 'A+' if I was still a teacher. I'm setting sail with Captain Triceps here." Miss Skullnick said as she and the Minotaur walked off.  
"What about my 'A'?" "Yeah!" Star and Amalia asked.

"Friendly tip, try studying," their former teacher said as she walked away with her date.

"I suppose the lesson for you both is this," Gabranth started. "If you want the best grade, study diligently."  
Both Star and Amalia groaned as Marco snickered.

* * *

The next day at school, Star and Amalia were telling everyone in class about what happened yesterday.  
"So basically, Skullnick ran off with this… uh…"

"Minotaur, Star," Amalia said.

"Oh right, she ran off with this Minotaur monster guy to another dimension, so she is gone forever." Star said.

There was about 5 seconds of silence before someone once again shouted "Star Butterfly and Amalia Dalmasca rule!" and the entire class ran over and crowded around the two's desks.

"Wow Star, that is so rad girl! You too Amalia!" Jackie said.  
"Thanks!" Star said.

"Yeah! But actually," Amalia said before walking over and dragging Marco in front of Jackie. "You might want to throw that compliment to this guy here," she said.

"Amalia's right," Star said, already picking up on what her friend was doing. "Marco's the one who deserves all the credit for this one."

"Really? That's awesome." Jackie said as Marco smiled and laughed nervously. The class then started cheering for Marco while Star and Amalia both placed a hand on his shoulders and smiled.

Suddenly a portal opened as Miss Skullnick crashed onto her desk, surprising everyone and causing Amalia to summon her sword and point it at her before Marco quickly had her lower it after telling her it was their teacher.

"Miss Skullnick!?" Marco shouted.

"He dumped! I think? I don't know, I couldn't understand a word he was saying!" she shouted angrily.

"Welcome back Skullzers!" "Yeah, nice to have you back." Star and Amalia said.

"Zip it and get ready for the worst pop quiz of your lives!" she said.

The entire class went back to their seats, groaning as they did. Marco just fell back into his seat and dropped his head on his desk.

"Sorry, Marco." "Yeah sorry, we didn't mean to embarrass you in front of Jackie like that." Star and Amalia said apologetically.

"It's cool guys, don't worry about it," he said. Just as he was about to put his face back on his desk, a balled up piece of paper landed on it.  
"Huh, what's this?" he wondered.

"Maybe it's a note?" Amalia guessed as Marco un-balled it.

 _I still think it's cool what you did, dude, even if we got stuck with this quiz._  
 _Signed, JLT_  
 _PS: you found some really awesome friends in Star and Amalia._

Marco looked over and saw Jackie smile and wave at him, which Star and Amalia noticed.

"Jackie talked to me and sent me this note! That's the most interaction she's had with me!" Marco said excitedly which made the two girls smile.

"As expected, my title of "Dragon Cupid of Romance" helped out once agai,." Amalia said confidently.

"What? I think I did the most here," Star said just as confidently.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, this means I'm even better at matchmaking than I am with magic," Star says confidently as she juggles her wand in her hands which once again, discharges a magical blast in Marco face giving him a butterfly-shaped head.

"Uh, not sure if that's a good thing Star," Amalia said as she blew out the flame that was on one of the antenna that now adorned Marco's head.

* * *

 **A/N: So now the Diaz household has two Wyverns living in their backyard. So sorry this took awhile people, inspiration comes slowly. Next chapter will be done by Mario. Also, I have a little surprise coming for a certain chapter. See you later! ;)**


	7. Chapter 7: Wyvern School Spirit

**Hi everyone! This is Mario and BFDI Bros back for my second full chapter! This one is based on** _ **School Spirit**_ **, but this time it's not Star causing all the problems. There's quite a few twists added to differentiate it from the original; you'll find it similar to my last chapter.**

* * *

It was another boring math class with the newly trollified Miss Skullnick. On Star's right, Amalia was snoozing, her head on her desk. On her left, of course, Marco was as attentive as always, maybe even more so. That was how you _knew_ the class was really boring.

Unfortunately, Star had too much energy to fall asleep like Amalia. She tapped her foot. She doodled all over her paper until there was no room left. Unbeknownst to her teacher, she magically changed some of the problems Miss Skullnick left on the board. "8 X 4 = 32" became "8 X 4 = -352." "5/2 = 2.5" became "5643/1649 = 74." "7 + 81 = 88" became "Unicorn + Warrior = Warnicorn."

The class started to laugh, and Miss Skullnick turned around, shouting, "What's so funny?" Then she turned back and saw what Star had done to the blackboard. Usually Star and Amalia could get away with things like that since there were two of them , so Miss Skullnick wouldn't know who to blame. But this time, she saw Amalia asleep and therefore knew who to blame. "Star Butterfly, this is your first and only warning before it's a trip to the principal's office!"

Star shuddered. She'd heard bad things about the fabled Principal's Office. "Yes, Miss Skullnick. I'll stop," she agreed.

As the minutes dragged on, Star became increasingly bored. Finally, she remembered a trick the girl named Janna had told her. She raised her hand. After a moment, she tried getting her teacher's attention by shouting, "Excuse me Miss Skullnick, could I ask you a question? Please? Miss Skullnick? Can I ask you a question?" Miss Skullnick slowly turned around, groaning. "What. Is. It."

"I was wondering if I could go to the bathroom?"

Her teacher let out a relieved sigh. "Thank the heavens. Please go."

"Thanks!" Star said, skipping out of the room.

* * *

It was about this time that Amalia was rudely awoken by an announcement over the intercom: "At this time, all classes please report to the football field for the assembly."

Amalia saw Star gone and leaned over to Marco. "What do I do?"

"Just ah… follow me."

"Okay."

As the class lined up at the door, Amalia made sure she was right behind Marco. She followed him out of the classroom, through a few hallways, and outside. She finally found herself in a sort of stadium. She took a seat on a bleacher the near the top, right next to Marco. She made sure to save a seat for Star. "What happened to Star?" she asked. "Is she coming?"

"She went to the bathroom," Marco replied, holding up both hands and bending then straightening his index and middle fingers in a strange gesture. **(A/N: That's air quotes. :D)** "She should be able to find her way here. Keep a look out for her, and we can wave her over."

"Okay. I'll watch."

But the girl soon got distracted by Principal Skeeves, who held a megaphone and announced, "I now present Brittney Wong, Head Cheerleader, a position that she definitely earned on her own and that her family's… generous donations had nothing to do with."

"Ah, a snobby, get-everything-I-want rich girl. Reminds me of Opaline," she said, her words laced with distaste.

Marco scratched his head. "I thought you two were friends at one point. Now you seem like nemeses. What happened?"

Amalia sighed. "I don't know, honestly. Opa's family was always wealthy, but she was just really cool about it. I mean, we're princesses; we know that we all have some money. But then, she just… changed." Her voice went down at the end as she shrugged.

"Yeah. People do that. I'm sorry you got the bad end of it."

Amalia laughed weakly. "Again, it's fine, really. It's how life goes. Like they always say, you can't spell 'friend' without an 'end.'"

Marco cocked his head. "No one says that here."

She laughed nervously. "Yeah, no one says that where I come from either."

There was an awkward pause.

"So what are we here for anyway?" Amalia said, quickly changing the subject and losing her previous contemplativeness, returning to her usual upbeat state.

"This is called a pep rally. It's supposed to get us… ah, excited for our match with the Warriors," he explained unenthusiastically.

"So you're not actually excited?"

"Well… not really. Those Warriors slaughter our guys every year."

Amalia jumped when she heard Mrs. Skullnick's voice next to her: "It'll be a bloodbath!" She munched on a whole chicken breast, picking the skeleton back out of her mouth afterward.

"They're really… gonna kill us?"

"Yep, they do it every year."

Amalia's shocked expression turned into a smirk. "I might be able to do something about that."

Marco shrugged. "Maybe you should try joining the Spirit Committee. Those kids are _relentless_."

A beat passed.

"Amalia?" Marco turned to Amalia, but all he saw was a portal closing behind her. "Oh."

Who knew where she'd gone? Most likely some sign-making dimension to go make a _Go Opossums!_ sign. Funny how something so bizarre would be more likely than her taking a shortcut to the bathroom.

Now that he had nothing to do, he began to think about his conversation with Amalia. She seemed like a genuinely happy and optimistic girl, but she must've had a few ill experiences in friendship. She didn't trust it. For some reason Marco couldn't understand, he had this need to convince her to trust in friendships again. He would do it, whatever it took. As long as it didn't involve broken glass, jaywalking, fallen sewing needles, or anything else just as dangerous.

He turned back to the field when he heard Brittney announce the mascot, the Awesome Opossum and, instead of seeing the real opossum, saw a person dressed as one. "Let's go! Opossums, whoo! Whoo hoo!"

"Wait, what happened to the real opossum? Did he get stolen by the Warriors again?" he wondered aloud.

Alfonzo, on Marco's right, responded, "Sadly, the real opossum wasn't playing possum last week. There was a funeral for him the other day. Weren't you there?"

"I… um… might've been busy," he said, remembering that crazy day he'd had with Star, Amalia, and Pony Head. And the battle with Amalia and Star before that. He barely had time for anything he used to. But it was kind of a good thing. He really enjoyed being with both of those girls. But it was in a different way from being with Jackie. With Jackie he was nervous, timid, and jumpy. With Star and Amalia, he could just have fun and be himself.

The hood of the costume pulled down to reveal Ferguson. "Is that… Ferguson!?" Marco exclaimed.

"Yep," Alfonzo confirmed, "he's our new mascot."

"Oh no! Now they're going to steal Ferguson! We've gotta stop them!"

"Oh, yeah."

"We can recruit Star and Amal—just Star, I guess."

Alfonzo frowned. "Where is she? She's usually pretty… distinguishable."

"Right, she hasn't shown up since she went to the bathroom. She's probably lost."

Finally, the final bell rang signifying the end of the school day. Instead of everyone going home, a few left the school, some stayed in the bleachers, and some milled about the campus. Marco Diaz, on the other hand, was on a mission. He peered around a corner before quickly fattening himself back against the wall. "The hallway's clear. Move! Move! Move!" Marco rolled across the hallway, flattening himself against new wall. Looking back, he saw Alfonzo pushing Ferguson in full costume. He turned back around and ran smack into Star.

"Oh hey, Star."

"Hey Marco! Where were you?"

"Where were _you_?"

"Well, in my kingdom, when we have an assembly, the townspeople gather in the court area that looks like a throne room, but it didn't have a throne, so I made one! Unfortunately, no one came." Star pointed down the hallway that Marco and the others had just passed, which lead into the cafeteria, where Marco could spot a giant wooden throne at least ten feet tall. Star followed his gaze. "I figured the bigger, the better, right? Oh, hey Alfonzo! Hey Ferguson! Love that opossum outfit. _Jealous_!"

Ferguson grinned widely and pumped his fist. Marco just stared at Star in confusion. "So… _anyway_ , our rival football team called the Warriors is after Ferg, so we're trying to keep him safe. Wanna help?"

"Oh cool! A Ferguson-protection mission! I'm totally in! Also, where's Amalia?"

"I don't know. She kind of dimension-jumped without explanation. She was just gone."

"Hmm," Star replied, "sometimes us dimension-hoppers do that real quickly. She didn't come right back?"

"Nope."

"Maybe she ran into trouble."

"Should we help her?"

"We wouldn't be able to find her."

"Right."

"If I know Amalia, which I do, she'll be fine. On the other hand, we're gonna need to protect Ferguson here from all the girls. Oh, and those Warrior guys. I say we start with a recon mission; see what we're up against. Do any of you know what weapons they'll be using? Just infantry, or will there be some cavalry? Oh, and what about artillery? We'll have to look out for that."

"Star, they're not _actual_ warriors. That's just the name of their football team and school mascot. Just like we're not real opossums."

"Oh. That makes more sense. But how are they stealing Ferguson, then?"

Marco shrugged. "They're just normal kids like us. They'll probably just throw a sack over his head or something, then drag him off."

"Well, it won't be that easy!"

"Yeah!" shouted Ferguson. "Wait, why won't it be that easy?"

"Because we have something I like to call _A Kitty-Cat Offense!_ "

"Wait, Star, do you even know what that me—"

Five orange cats appeared before them, purring and licking their paws. Then they scurried off in all different directions. "They're doing the recon for us!" Star explained excitedly

"How did you… do that?"

"I just made a few changes to the _Cutie Kitten Clutter Cleaners_ spell."

 _No wonder she can clean her and Amalia's room so fast. Too bad she almost never cleans it,_ Marco thought.

The kittens returned one by one, purring to each other. Marco, Alfonzo, and Ferguson jumped as one spoke: "Hostiles detected near rooms 102 A, 118 A, 221 B, 312 D, and 407 E."

"Thank you cute little kittens!" She cut a portal, and the cats walked through.

"Where did they go?" asked Alfonzo in amazement.

"They're in the Cats with Human Faces Dimension. Those guys are _really_ creepy, but the cats don't mind."

Alfonzo looked to Marco questioningly. Marco just shrugged, saying, "After a while you just get used to it."

"Team! Don't get distracted by their cuteness! We have a mission!"

"Right," said Marco, "where did those cats say those opossum-nappers are?"

"Hostiles detected near rooms 102 A, 118 A, 221 B, 312 D, and 407 E!" Star recited.

"Were in building A, first of all. And that room is…" He checked. "...110, which means that there's one down that hallway"—he pointed ahead of them and to the left—"and one down that one." He pointed at the hallway across from the first.

"So I'm assuming we run that way," Ferguson said rhetorically, pointing in the direction they'd come.

"Nope!" Star said, surprising them. "We need to run _past_ them. If we leave something here, like a trail, they'll think we went the other way! And if I remember right, those doors at the end lead to the big space of those car things that's black with white lines."

"Yeah, a parking lot. And how did you come up with all this?"

" _Battle Strategy_ ," she sang in response, "I was babysat by the royal guards. That's where I got it from."

Marco had a disturbing thought of one of the guards mutilating a teddy bear and Star laughing and jumping in joy. "Wait, your parents, _the queen and king_ , needed a babysitter? I know it's a lot of work, but if I remember you said the kings don't really do anything?"

Star shrugged. "Mom was always out doing queenly duties, and when she did, Dad usually felt like going hunting, so I that's how I ended up being babysat by the royal guards."

"Your dad _hunted_?"

Star laughed a bit. "Yeah, he's strange like that. Anyway, if we wait any longer, the plan won't work." She made a little puddle of paint on the floor. "Okay Ferguson, walk through that paint, going back the way you came." He did so, leaving opossum-prints on the floor.

"Wait," Marco started, "now when he walks the other way, they'll see exactly where he's going."

"Which is why we carry him!"

In theory, it was a good idea. In practice, it was quite an effort. The three of them tried to drag Ferguson along the ground, gaining only inches.

Finally, Ferguson provided, "Why don't I just take off my opossum feet? They aren't attached."

"That would've been useful earlier," Marco grumbled.

Ferguson took off the feet of his costume and ran with them in his hands. They all ran out the doors into the parking lot.

* * *

Meanwhile, the "hostiles" were scampering around and barking as Amalia tried to round them up. "Argh, this is what I get for letting Dog Dimension dogs run around without a leash. They're never well-trained." She ran around waving dog biscuits and shouting "Here, doggies! Have a treat!"

After a while, she had them all surrounding her as she held the treat high in the air. "Okay, okay I've got this. _Battle Canine Training Spell!_ "

The dogs stopped yapping, instead taking up snarling threateningly at pieces of dust on the ground. "Great! Those Warriors won't know what hit them!"

After a pause, she thought of something. "Actually, these are just dogs, so they would know. Maybe I could try something…."

* * *

Out in the parking lot, Marco found a whistle on the ground and shoved it at Ferguson. "Here's your stranger-danger whistle. You need to blow it if anyone's trying to kidnap you. Here, try it to see if it works."

"No way, I'm not putting that in my mouth!"

"Do it!"

"Never!"

"Blow it!"

"That's disgusting!"

"Guys! Guys!" Star intervened. "Here's a completely new, un-dirty, unsuspicious, whistle." She waved her wand, and a sparkling red whistle appeared in her hand.

Ferguson glanced at it and back at the one Marco had picked up. "Sorry dude, but I like Star's whistle better. I'm still not gonna blow it, but I guess I'll hold onto it just to make you happy."

"Yay!" shouted Star.

"I am mentally scarred," said Alfonzo.

"Can I go home now?" begged Ferguson.

Marco ignored the first two remarks and answered the third: "Of course not! That's the first place they'll look for you."

"Aw, but it's Taco Wednesday! That's when we eat all the leftovers from Taco Wednesday."

Star immediately began pulling Marco in the opposite direction. "Taco Wednesday? We have to go! Come on, Marco, please, please, please?"

"Not to undermine your… ehm, _questionable_ authority," Alfonzo interrupted, covering the word _questionable_ with a cough, "but the Warriors couldn't possibly know who Ferguson is, much less where he lives."

Marco began to retort, but Star gave him puppy-dog eyes. "Fine," he relented, "but it is _not_ my fault if you get taken. And if you do, make sure you—"

"Blow on that accursed whistle, I know," Ferguson finished. "Now let's have some reheated tacos!"

"Yeah!" chanted Star and Alfonzo.

"You three go ahead and get yourselves kidnapped, but I'm not going in there."

"Suit yourself," responded Alfonzo.

Star and Ferguson we're already inside. "Hey Mom," said the latter, "I have some friends for Taco Wednesday!"

"Oh, hello, Ferguson's friends!" said an overweight woman in a pink blouse and jeans. "You can call me Mrs. O'Durguson. Today's the big game, right? Oh Ferguson, I'm so proud that my little boy's going out as the mascot! I'm so excited for all you…"

The rest of her rambling was lost to Star as she noticed that Marco wasn't there. "Where's Marco?" she whispered to Alfonzo.

"Outside."

"Hm." She frowned, then excused herself from the table and walked outside. (Not that Mrs. O'Durguson noticed anyway.)

She found Marco sitting on the curb, watching his phone intently. She sat down next to him without him noticing. "Hey, whatcha doing?"

Marco jumped, quickly covering his phone, but not before Star saw his text to Amalia:

 **Me: Where** **are you? Can you meet me outside Ferguson's house?**

 _Not read_

Star looked at Marco with suspicion. "Were you trying to ditch us with Amalia again?"

Marco shook his head vigorously. "Um, I was just a little worried about her. I haven't seen her since she jumped through the portal."

"Right."

A car came toward them. In retrospect, they were a safe distance away, but Star, not entirely trusting of cars yet, zapped them somewhere else on instinct. They found themselves on a bench near the beach, not far from Ferguson's house. Without all the houses in the way, Star had a perfect view of the sunset over the water. Half the disc of the sun rested upon the rippling water. Bright oranges and deep reds fanned out from it on a canvas of purple and magenta masterfully swirled in with blue. The water reflected it, blending together all the colors on its surface like an artist's palette after the completion of a painting.

"Whoa," she breathed. "You know, Earth sunsets are so beautiful, don't you think?"

Marco nodded back thoughtfully. "Yeah, they are. What about the ones back on your dimension?"

"Those ones are pretty, too, but sometimes things are better when they're new and different. I've seen the Mewni sunsets my whole life, but these Earth ones I'd never seen before a few days ago. That makes it all the more awesome!"

Marco nodded thoughtfully again. "If you could go back to Mewni right now, would you, or would you stay here?"

"Of course I'd stay! This place is so cool and exciting! Mewni is just boring old Mewni. Also, two of my best friends are here."

Marco stared off into the sunset, watching as the sun slowly sunk into the horizon. Star followed his gaze, but once the sun had completely set, she looked back at her friend. "Are you all right?"

Marco snapped his gaze back to Star. "Yeah, I'm just… yeah." He sighed.

"You look like you need a hug." She wrapped her arms around Marco and brought him in for a hug.

Marco smiled into her shoulder, comforted. "Thank you, Star. That helped."

"That's what I'm here for."

They watched together as the colorful sky faded into inky blackness.

* * *

Her newly-remodeled dogs trailing behind her, Amalia snuck about the field, planting the explosives from the pile of them she was carrying. As soon as that was done, she looked back and surveyed the area. Something was missing. Some finishing touches.

Aha! A wyvern. A small one. That would be sure to rock those Warriors. The were Earth humans, after all. She jumped to Draclord.

As soon as her portal closed, she remembered that she wasn't exactly supposed to be in her home dimension. It was a good thing she'd picked a grassy hill somewhere instead. Actually, she wasn't quite sure where she was. Well, the one thing she did know she was in her realm, The Realm of the Blade. But was she? She had explored nearly every bit of her realm, but none of this looked familiar. There were hardly any trees, which seemed wrong, because most of the outskirts of The Blade Realm was dense forest area.

She turned and walked the other way until she crested the hill. Below her spread a kingdom: a pristine white castle studded with gemstones and larger than her own, a sprawling town of commoner houses, and several other identifiable buildings such as hospitals, schools, and training grounds.

She knew this kingdom the moment she saw the gemstones embedded in the white palace. Any Draconoid would; it was the kingdom of the Bijous, the Anahite Kingdom, largest kingdom in the Realm of the Spear. And the owner of that spear was Opaline "Opa" Bijou. Her former friend. Her nemesis, as Marco put it.

As she realized all of this, a plan started to form, and a devilish smirk overtook her face. Opa had a pet Wyvern, too, a baby Gold Rathian, a rare, fire-breathing wyvern, about four feet long. Exactly what she was looking for. She'd "borrow" it for a few hours then bring back. Opa might not even notice. Or she might. Either way, she'd never know it was Amalia, because she had the passcode to form a portal straight into the castle.

Of course, castles had security against opening portals into them to prevent unauthorized entrance. But back when Opa and she were friends, Opa had told her the passcode. The name of the first Queen of the Anahite Kingdom, and her age when she became queen.

"Sapphire38!" she shouted, then made a portal into her favorite hiding place when she and Opa used to play hide-and-seek (which was a very long game in a castle such as hers). She found herself crouched in a secret passage that had partially caved in long ago behind a tapestry in the throne room.

"Not as small as I used to be," Amalia grunted, worming her way toward the tapestry at the exit. Before pulling aside the tapestry, she listened for footfalls. Just as she determined the coast was clear, she heard heavy footsteps from her right. She waited until they receded, then quickly crawled out of the opening. Then she scampered over to the other side of the room on the balls of her feet, toward a cage with a yellow wyvern named Amber inside.

Amalia had never liked how Opaline kept Amber in a cage, but whenever she had tried to get Opa to let her be free, she and her parents had all agreed that she'd cause too much havoc if they let her loose.

Which was fine by Amalia. Havoc was just what she needed. She opened the cage, and Amber sprang out. She stepped through a portal, and the curious Rathian followed her through.

* * *

Marco checked his watch. "We should be getting back for the game now."

"Okay. Let's meet up with Ferguson and Alfonzo."

"Oh," Marco said, realizing something, "You never got to have tacos."

She shrugged in response. "There's always nachos."

Marco chuckled, opening the door of Ferguson's house. "Hey Marco! Hey Star!" he said from inside, still in full costume. "Too bad you missed all the tacos. But I saved two for you!"

"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed Star as she and Marco each took one.

Before either could take a bite, Marco wondered aloud, "Where's Alfonzo?"

"Oh he's in the bathroom," replied Ferguson.

On cue, Alfonzo walked out of the bathroom, his tan skin now a shade of green Marco had thought impossible. "Um, Alfonzo, are you all right?"

"I'm okay," he replied, "turns out Taco Wednesday is the leftovers from _last week's_ Taco Tuesday."

"Two weeks, actually," Ferguson corrected.

Marco carefully put his taco down and motioned for Star to do the same. "Anyway… we should get going if we're going to make it to the game in time."

"Right…" Alfonzo said, gripping the table, "give me just a minute. You go on ahead and get Ferguson ready to do his mascot thing."

"Okay, see ya there!" said Star. The three left the house and started toward the school.

What they found on the field could only be described as chaos. Dogs with wings—yes, wings!—lurked among the sidelines, several explosive-looking objects were embedded in the turf, and what looked like a baby dragon—wyvern, that is—slinking around and snorting smoke at a anyone who came near it.

To top it off, Amalia stood in the endzone covered in bluish armor, which she later explained was reforged mythril, some sort of magic metal, and wielding her sword high in the air.

The crowd just sat there expectantly, probably thinking they were all part of some pre-game show. Marco knew better. "Oh no, this is bad, this is really bad." He started to shout "Amalia! Amalia!" But with all the commotion, Amalia couldn't hear him.

The referee, one Warrior, and one Opossum went out to the center of the field, miraculously not setting off any traps, bombs, or the like. "Warriors call heads!" the referee announced. He then flipped the coin. "Let's see, it seems to be h—"

Before he could give the result, an explosion blew all three of them backward. Where the coin had landed was now a charred hole in the grass where some sort of touch-sensitive explosive must have lain. The coin flew back up into the air, this time landing tails. The referee, startled, announced, "Tails it is." He consulted the Opossums representative. "The Opossums choose to receive." He then tiptoed off the field warily, luckily for him not setting off any traps.

The Warriors' kicker got ready for his kick. He took a few steps forward and swung his leg, but just before he made contact, a flying dog hit him straight in the face, causing him to miss the center of the football. It unceremoniously rolled five yards and stopped. More flying dogs battered the Warriors' offense. The wyvern also wanting in on the skirmish, singeing uniforms and climbing all over the players. Seeing an opportunity, the nearest Opossum sprinted for the ball and scooped it up. He weaved through the flying dogs and the distracted Warriors, running straight into the goal. The crowd erupted into huge applause and cheering. Marco couldn't help but grin widely.

While he was distracted, Ferguson had slipped away and was now behind the endzone, facing the crowd. "Let's go Opossums! Whoo!" he shouted. He turned and tripped over his own tail, but Star saved him from his embarrassment just in time, sending him floating through the air in a bubble. Ferguson went with it, shouting, "This is your mascot, the Awesome Opossum, with birds-eye-view coverage! Here comes the kick! Aaaand it's good!"

Marco and Star shared a look and grinned. "Now let's go ask Amalia what's going on," said the former.

The latter created a rainbow bridge over the entire field. "Let's go!"

They both raced over the bridge, coming to a stop next to Amalia. "Amalia! What's going on?"

"Oh," she said casually, just noticing them, "I was trying to turn the odds in our favor by rigging the battlefield. Like my winged dogs?"

"Amalia, that's cheating."

"There are no rules in war! We have to do whatever it takes to protect our people's lives!"

Marco let out a long moan. "This is not a war. No one is slaughtering anyone. Their _team_ is just going to beat… er, _win against_ us in football, which is a _sport._ A _game_. No one's lives are in danger here, except maybe Ferguson's—"

Star looked at him. "I think you can stop worrying about that."

Marco took a breath. "Right. But that spell you did, didn't it say there were kids coming after us?"

Star frowned and shook her head. "I was just having fun with it. The spell wasn't designed to seek out people coming after your opossum. I think the cats probably picked up Amailia's dogs running around and reported them as the hostiles."

"Yep," Amalia agreed, "cats will always think of dogs as hostiles, no matter what dimension you're in." The girls laughed.

Marco just looked back and forth between them in confusion. Then another thought struck him.

This was what he'd been mulling over earlier. Star and Amalia were completely new and different to him. Which was fine. They were really good friends. But recently he'd started getting this… fear, sort of, of "leaving his old world behind." He would have to pick, eventually, between staying on Earth and traveling the dimensions, being normal and being different, his old friends and his new ones. He had to pick whether to continue with his old life or jump into this new one. That was why he'd asked Star if she'd rather be on Mewni or Earth. Embracing this new path had seemed like an appealing option, but now with everything that just happened, he was reconsidering. Maybe they were too different. Marco knew nothing about magic, and the girls knew nothing about Earth. It screamed incompatibility.

But then again, if he never took the leap from where he was now, he would never tell Jackie about his crush on her. He would never get his red belt. Star was right. New things were so cool and exciting.

Maybe he should ask the girls what to do. That always seemed to help. "Have you ever been hit with something entirely new, all of a sudden, and you're kind of afraid to leave everything else behind? I kind of feel like that."

Amalia contemplated her answer. "You can't be afraid of change, because then you'll never get anywhere. But at the same time, maybe you don't have to let go of everything else just yet."

"Yeah. But do you ever think that maybe we're too… different from each other? Like I don't understand a bit of your magic stuff."

Star shrugged. "We'll have to get used to it, and a few bumps might come along the way, like what happened here, but honestly I think it's more funny than anything else! You don't have to worry about it like you always do, Safe Kid."

I almost got mad because she used that name, but she was right. He needed to worry less about things. And like Amalia said, he didn't need to choose now. But he did feel a sense of comfort and belonging around those two, even though he wasn't in tune with the same world of magic and wyvern and monsters they were in. Around them, it seemed like none of that mattered.

"Okay, let's get this fixed up, watch the game, and celebrate our first touchdown on a kickoff ever with some nachos!"

The two girls stared at him blindly. "Yeah, whatever that third thing is," said Amalia.

"You had me at 'nachos,'" said Star.

The rest of the game went scoreless, since they hadn't been able to remove the numerous traps and explosives, but the crowd had so much energy anyway because, for once, their team was winning. Marco, Star, and Amalia were just as excited. It was hard to describe, but there was a pervading feeling of energy and joy. That feel-good underdog moment. Everyone, even grumpy Brittney, had wide smiles plastered on their faces.

"Well… I never thought I'd say this, but… let's celebrate our victory!"

"A plate of nachos?" Star exclaimed with an excited glint in her eyes.

Marco smiled. "Better than a plate of nachos. _Two_ plates of nachos!"

* * *

A portal opened up in Illya's room as she was getting ready for bed. Five flying dogs, a full suit of mythril armor, and an golden-colored Rathian tumbled out. It carried a note in its mouth.

"Dear my awesome sister Illya," she read, "I borrowed a few things… would you mind greatly if I asked you to return them? The Rathian belongs to Opaline—just don't let her see you. The armor goes in my closet, third from the right. I'm not sure what to do with the dogs, just try figuring something out. Thank so much! I owe you one! Your dear sister, Amalia."

Illya sighed, scooping up everything and slipping out the window. (She had asked for a ground-floor room specifically for that reason.) "The things I do for my older sister," she muttered, then disappeared into the night.

* * *

 **Looking forward to my next chapter with you (chapter 9)! Until then!**


	8. Chapter 8:Monster Arm and Surprise Guest

**Hey Fanfiction! Star's Keyblade here, bringing you all another chapter. I hope you all liked last chapter, cause now we're going to "Arm" ourselves for this next one. Just a heads up, there will be some differences from the episode.**

 **Chapter 8: Monster Arm and an Unexpected Guest**

It was another day at the Diaz household for Star and Amalia, as both princesses were in their shared bedroom. Right now, Amalia was showing Star a book called "The World of Draclord and its Creatures" as the two shared a plate of Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly Brownie Sandwiches that the two made together. **(A/N: saw this snack on an episode of Carnival Eats last night, and it looked like something these two would eat. Plus, it looks freaking good!)** The book contained information on every monster and creature that was discovered so far within the Five Realms of Draclord.

"Wow Amalia, your dimension has so many amazing monsters in it!" Star said before she took a bite of her PB & J brownie sandwich. "Mmmm! And these PB & J brownie sandwiches we made are so good!" "Yeah, can kind of tell since you've already eaten eight out of the twenty we made, slow down a bit, kay Star? And careful, like I said I borrowed this book from someone." Amalia said. "Sorry, I forgot." Star said covering her mouth as she swallowed. "It's okay, just be mindful is all. So which monster should we look at next?" Amalia asked.

Star thought for a moment as she took another bite out of her sandwich.

"Oh I know. Are there any of those old dragons that you were telling me and Marco about when we turned Miss Skullnick into a troll?" Star asked.

"Old dragons? Oh, you mean Elder Dragons. Hold on, let me see," Amalia said as she flipped through the pages of the book. "Hmm… ah-ha! Here's one." She said as she stopped on a page that had a picture of large dragon with metallic-like skin, huge wings and spikes along its head.

"Ooooh, what's this one called?" Star asked as her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"This is called a Kushala Daora, and its part of the second generation of Elder Dragons from Draclord." Amalia read. "it's a metal plated dragon, sometimes known as the "tempest of wind", due to its ability to control the very weather around it."

"Wait, this dragon can control weather!?" Star said.

"Well yes, but according to the book, it's only capable of creating and manipulating strong winds." Amalia read. "It can even make a barrier of wind around itself, except for its head and tail. But if the Kushala Daora is poisoned, the wind around it will weaken." Amalia said as she continued to read while Star listened. "a few years after its discovery, several subspecies of the Kushala Daora have been found. But the most noticeable one is the Garuba Daora."

"Ooooh, what's that one look like? Is it in the book?" Star asked. "Well hold on, let me see," Amalia said as she turned the pages to 'Elder Dragon's subspecies'. "Okay, Garuba Daora… here it is. Whoa," Amalia said as she and Star saw a picture of another Kushala Daora. Except this one's body was golden, with some ice crystal protrusions on its head, feet, tail and wings.

"Oh my Draclord/Mewni! That thing looks so cool!" The two said at the same time in excitement. "Well come on! Read about it, read about it!" Star said shaking Amalia.

"Alright, alright Star. I'm just as excited, just calm down." Amalia said as she started to reading. "Garuba Daora are a very powerful breed of Kushala Daora that have adapted to a different environment. While the exact whereabouts of this elder dragon are unknown, it can be found sometimes in high altitudes in the sky."

"So the only way anyone can see this thing is when it's flying waaaaay up in the sky?" Star asked.

"Apparently; even then the chances of seeing one are still pretty slim to none." Amalia said. "Boo, I was really hoping to get to see one if we ever got to go to your dimension." Star said as Amalia patted her on the back to make her feel better.

The two then heard what sounded like wood being broken outside from the window.

"What was that?" Star asked.

"No clue, want to go find out?" Amalia asked as she reached to grab another brownie sandwich only to find the empty plate.

"What the?" Amalia said before looking and seeing the last one being eaten by Star who was looking back at her like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Sorry, there just really, really delicious." Star said while here friend just sighed and smiled at her.

"Remind me to make two plates of these sandwiches the next time we decide to make them." Amalia said as she and Star went downstairs.

* * *

Meanwhile outside in the backyard, Marco was in his karate clothes practicing while Gabranth watch along with Ratha and Saber.

"So this the form of combat you mentioned, correct?" Gabranth asked the half Latino boy as he placed another wooden plank in front of him.

"That's right, this is karate." Marco said. "I guessing you don't have something like it back in Draclord, huh?" "No, although the knights of our kingdom are also trained in some forms of hand to hand combat, we've not trained in anything to the style your using. It seems like a more… defensive style of fighting." Gabranth said.

"Well I guess you could say that." Marco said. "Karate centers around honor and discipline, and it involves both physical and mental training. It originated in Middle Chine or the Ryukyu Kingdom as it was called back then."

"Interesting, your dimension seems to have a most intriguing history behind it." Gabranth said. "So the reason you are taking the time practice today, is for a tournament you will be taking part in, correct?" he asked remembering what his host's son told him.

"What!? A tournament! That sounds fun!"

Marco, Gabranth, Ratha and Saber look and see Star and Amalia coming from the back door.

"So that's why we heard wood being broken." Star said as she walked over and started petting Ratha.

"Princess, I thought you were showing Princess Star the different creatures from Draclord." Gabranth said.

"We were, until we heard wood being broken. So we came down here to find out what it was. And I'm glad we did actually." Amalia said before looking to Marco. "So what's this about a tournament, Marco? If there was going to be one, you should've told me right away. I love getting the chance to show my progress."

"Yeah, well I was going to tell you and Star after I finished my practice." Marco said.

"Besides Amalia, this is un-armed competition and only those who are in Marco's karate class may take part." Gabranth said.

"What!? For the love of Gendromes, that stinks. I was really looking forward to kicking someone's butt who isn't trying to come after my sword." Amalia complained.

Suddenly a silver and blue portal appeared above Amalia, getting her and everyone else's attention.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Amalia said as she summoned her sword and Star pulled out her wand.

The group then heard a voice screaming "IF ANYONE'S OUT THERE, PLEASE MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" as someone came falling out of the portal and landed right into Amalia's arms.

The person was a girl who looked to be around 3 yrs. Older than Star, Marco and Amalia. She had fair skin, and disheveled, medium-length black hair and was wearing a maroon colored crop top and shorts that were cut to expose her hips and were held up and stringed around her waist. She was wearing a white hooded robe with long sleeves that draped over her hands, and a pair of black knee-high boots and black-framed glasses on her face.

"Phew, that was a close one." The girl said as she opened her eye, reveling them to be dark red. "Thanks for the catch-" the girl stopped mid-sentence when she locked eyes with Amalia, who's eyes had also widened.

"What in the! Sally!?" Amalia said in surprise.

"Amalia!" the girl named Sally said happily as she hopped out of the stunned girl's arms and quickly scooped her up into an embrace and started spinning her around. "Goody! Goody! I missed so much after you left! Did you miss, huh? Did you!?" Sally said as she now swung Amalia left to right while still hugging her very tightly.

"Sally!" Amalia says as she struggles to talk due to being squeezed by the older girl. "Can't… breath."

"Huh? Oh! Whoops." Sally says as she let's go of Amalia allowing her to breath in sweet relief. "Sorry about that, it's just I'm glad to see you Amalia."

"Okay, first off, what the heck! Geez, did you get stronger while I wasn't looking or something! Your hugs feel ten times stronger than they were before." Amalia said still trying to get air into her lungs. "Second, where the heck have you been!? I haven't seen you since I was six! And lastly!"

Amalia then hugs Sally, surprising her before she smiled and returned the hug.

"Of course I missed you, you Knucklehead." Amalia said as she continued to hug the girl.

Star and Marco looked on confused at what was going on, while Gabranth just laughed a little.

"Princess, perhaps you should introduce your… unexpected guest to young Star and Marco." The Judge Magister said getting the two's attention.

"Oh right," Amalia said breaking the hug and looking at her two friends. "Star and Marco, this is Sally Valestone, she's an old friend of mine." Amalia said. "Sally, these are friends Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz."

Sally then walks up until she's right in Star's face and looks at her curiously.

"Hmm, judging from the adventurous spark I see in your eyes," Sally then sniffs around Star. "Ooooh, and this sent of foreign magicks I'm getting from you, I'm going to guess and say you're a magic user from a different dimension, right?"

"Whoa, you can tell just from looking an smelling me!? That so cool." Star said excitedly, while Marco still had a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, but did she have to smell Star to figure out she was from another dimension?" Marco asked Gabranth. "That's just how Lady Valestone is, she's a very… curious person." He said as he saw Amalia and Star Introducing Sally to Ratha and Saber.

After introductions were out of the way, Amalia asked Sally why she was here on earth.

"Oh right, hold on, I have a letter from your mom here somewhere." Sally says as she tries to find said letter. "Oh wait, I know where I put it."

Sally then sticks her hand into the front of her shirt. Marco quickly turns his head to side as his face turned as red as one of his hoodies and Gabranth just lowered his head and sighed.

"Lady Valestone, couldn't you have placed the letter anywhere else on your person aside from that… area?" he asked.

"Huh? Well I was making sure the I didn't lose the letter. So I thought that putting it in my shirt would be the best idea." Sally said as she pulled out the letter she was looking for from her shirt. "Here it is!" she said as she handed it to Amalia.

"Okay Marco and Gabranth, you two can look now, geez." Amalia said as she began to read the letter aloud.

 _"Hello my little dragon star,"_ started and groaned when she heard Star and Marco snickering.

"Little dragon star?" Star said trying not to laugh.

"My mom has called me that since I was baby alright? I'm pretty sure your moms have called the two something embarrassing too." Amalia said before she continued to read the letter.

 _"I hope you, Gabranth and Ratha are doing well while on earth. If your reading this right now, then it means that Sally should be with you. The reason I sent her over is because I've asked her to be your… second line of defense you could say."_ She read, cocking an eye brow in confusion before looking to Sally for an answer.

"I didn't really understand what she meant when she told me either." Sally said. "All she said was that she and Ishtar had an interesting conversation, then she called me and asked if I wanted to help you with your training while you're on earth?"

Amalia's eyes widened when she heard this.

"I-is that so?" she said as she thought to herself. 'For Velocidrome sake Ishtar, nearly giving me a heart attack here.' Amalia thought just imaging her little sister's knowing grin before she continued to reading.

 _"Anyway, I hope you're not giving your host family much trouble. Hope to hear from you soon, hugs and kisses, Mom."_

"Sounds like you're Mom really cares a lot about you." Marco said.

"Queen Okita is known for being quite doting towards her family, but she can be just a stern when need be." Gabranth said.

"Okay, well it was nice meeting you Sally, but I need to get back to practicing for my karate tournament." Marco said as he placed three wooden boards in front of him.

"Ah Marco, those seem to be… thicker than the ones you've been using." Gabranth said. "Are you sure you should practice with those?"

"Of course, don't worry. Besides, I think I can chop through these three no sweat," Marco said as he prepared himself.

"So your friend is entering a fighting tournament, Amalia?" Sally asked.

"Yep, Marco here is a pretty good fighter actually." Amalia said proudly. "Yeah, you should've seen how amazing Marco looked fighting." Star said which made Sally smile in interest.

"I know that smile Sally, don't go research crazy on Marco, okay?" Amalia said.

"Okay, okay, I'll behave myself." Sally said raising her hands in mock surrender as Star laughed a little.

"Really? Cause the last time you said that, you ended up- "

Amalia was cut off by Marco suddenly screaming. The three looked and saw Marco rolling on the ground holding his right arm, as Gabranth sighed and Saber turned his head away, while Ratha covered his face with his wings.

"Umm, what the heck did we miss?" Amalia said.

* * *

After a trip to the hospital and introducing Sally to Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, Marco groaned as he laid on Star's bed with a pillow over his face and a cast on his right arm while Star and Amalia help Sally get set up for her stay with them.

"That hospital had some really impressive equipment, this dimension is already making me curious." Sally said happily as she bounced on the bed that Amalia and Star made for her.

"Well if you like that place, just wait till you see the other places here on earth." Star said. "Yeah, and wait till you try the food they have here too, it will blow your mind." Amalia added.

"Glad you guys are in a good mood; wish I could say the same." Marco said as he tossed the pillow off his face. "I really wanted to fight in this tournament too,"

Sally felt bad for Marco, he sounded like he really wanted to fight in this tournament. She then looked over at Star who was using her wand to magically change her hair and Amalia who was using her sword to change the color of her outfit, and got an idea.

"Maybe you could still fight in the tournament Marco." Sally said getting the boy and the two girl's attention.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean you have two magic users right here, I'm sure Star or Amalia could fix your arm. That way you could fight in the competition." Sally said.

"That could work, but at the same time I'm not too sure." Marco said.

"Plus Sally, I don't know any bone healing spell." Amalia said. "Yeah, and those kind of spells aren't really in my comfort zone. But I could give Marco a pretty good set of pigtails." Star says as she waves her wand and changes her hair into a set of pigtails.

"Yeah, thanks for the offer Star, but I think I'll pass." Marco said as he fell back onto the bed with a dishearten sigh.

Seeing Marco so unhappy that he couldn't fight in his tournament, made Star, Amalia and Sally unhappy that they couldn't help him. The three then moved to the other side of the room away from Marco and huddled together.

"Are you both sure there's nothing you can do to help Marco?" Sally asked. "He really seems like he wants to fight in this tournament."

"Of course we want to help Marco," Star said. "Yeah, heck I want Marco to be in it so I can watch him kick butt. But I never bother to learn a proper bone healing spell and Star already said she isn't comfortable with those spells." Amalia said mentally kicking herself for not learning a body mending spells.

The three girls pondered what they could do to help Marco, until Star suddenly got an idea and ran over to her bed.

"Excuse me Marco!" Star said as she pushed Marco's legs aside and pulled out a massive book from underneath her bed. "If me or Amalia don't know a bone healing spell, made I can find one in the Magic Instruction Book that came with my wand." She said as she dragged the heavy book to the middle of the room

"What?" Marco said confused.

"The Magic Instruction Book, whenever a previous owner of the wand mastered a spell they wrote down in this book." Star said as she opened the book, releasing a huge cloud of dust making her and the others cough. "But as you guys can see, it's a- "

"Complete disorganized jumbled mess." Sally said still coughing a bit. "It looks completely different from the one Amalia has for her sword."

"Wait, Amalia you want an instruction book too?" Star asked.

"Yeah, remember? I mentioned using our books to try and change Miss Skullnick back." Amalia said.

"Oh right, so where is it then?" Star asked.

Amalia walks over to the bookcase and after looking for a couple of seconds, pulls out a large, dark-green book with golden runic symbols on the spine. She then walks back over to the others and kneels down next to Star with Sally joining her.

"Here it is," Amalia said showing Star and Marco the front of her book.

The front cover had a picture of a dragon's head and two swords crossed on it, both of which were gold. It had several different colored tabs sticking out of the pages.

"It looks almost as big as my book, so how is it more organized?" Star asked Sally.

"You see these colored tabs sticking out of the pages?" Sally said getting nods from Star and Marco. "They stand for different spell types, like this red tab here is for attack spell and this blue tab is for defense spells." She explained.

"Okay, so which colored tab means healing spells?" Marco asked.

"Not sure, I only know about these two tabs. The other ones are over my head, I figured Amalia would have started looking at the book when she got here." Sally said.

"Yeah, well, I… was busy?" Amalia said laughing nervously a bit.

"It's cool Amalia, I've got my book already opened." Star said. "But it may take me awhile to find the right spell to fix… oh wait, never mind. I found it." She said.

"Really Star?" Marco asked hopping off the bed.

Amalia and Sally looked at the page that Star found the spell on.

"I… can't even read that," Amalia said.

"Hmm, looks like it's written in an ancient language." Star said looking at the spell.

"Ooooh, interesting." Sally said her curiosity already flaring up. "I've never seen writing like this, are you sure you can read this, Star?" "Yeah, no problem. Ready Marco?" Star said.

"Uh, I… guess?" he said not too sure as Star began to case the spell.

" **Releaseo, Demonius, Infestica!"** Star said as a swirling green and purple light flowed from her wand and wove itself around Marco's right arm.

Amalia and Sally looked on, their eyes sparkling in amazement.

"Am I supposed to be feeling a tingling in my fingers?" Marco asked Star.

"That must mean it's working." Star said.

A sudden flash of light then happened, blinding everyone. When it died down Marco looked down, hoping to see his arm was fixed and above all normal. However, that hope soon crumbled, when he, Star, Amalia and Sally looked and saw what the spell had done. Marco's arm was fixed, but the spell had turned it into a long purple, slime-covered tentacle. Upon seeing his new appendage, Marco screamed in terror.

"Oh my Gosh! Star I thought that spell was supposed to fix Marco's arm! Not turn it into a slimy tentacle!" Amalia said in panic. "Are you sure you read that spell right!?"

"Yeah of course! At least… I think… I did?" Star said sounding unsure. "Let's not panic yet, I'm sure there's a spell that can change Marco's arm back." She said as she quickly flipped through her spell book with Amalia helping her.

Meanwhile Sally had walked over and was observing a panicking Marco looking at his new tentacle arm fail about curiously.

"Uh, Sally?" Marco asked.

"Hmm?" "Is there a reason your just, you know, staring at me while I'm having a panic attack here!?" Marco asked but Sally just seemed to tune him out as she continued to look at the tentacle.

Whether it was out of reflex or the tentacle having a mind of its own, it swung itself at Sally. But she didn't seem phased and quickly jumped over its, having it miss her. However, while it did miss Sally, it managed to swat Star's spell book out the window, surprising her and Amalia.

"Whoa, that arm is defiantly strong." Sally said.

"You think?" Amalia said recovering from her shock.

* * *

The next morning, Marco let's out a yawn as he wakes up and is promptly greeted with a smack to the face by his monster arm. After he got up, he headed to the bathroom for a morning shower. But once again, his monster arm got in the way by smacking the soap out of his hand and making his shower too hot. Later, as he tried to eat his breakfast, his monster arm knocked it off the table and onto the floor.

"Morning Marco," Sally said happily as she came downstairs followed a very tried looking Star and Amalia.

"Morning… Marco," "Yeah, good… morning." They both said sleepily as they sat at the table.

"Were you two up all night?" Marco asked concerned.

"Actually, all three of us were up all night, looking for ways to reverse the spell on your arm. It was like a little research slumber party." Sally said in a giddy voice as Star and Amalia had fallen asleep. "But unfortunately, we haven't found a way to reverse the spell."

"Man, guess I'm stuck with this for a while longer." Marco said. "Wait, Sally if you were up all night with Star and Amalia too, how come your not really tired like them?" He asked.

"Oh, late night research is what I'm use to. You see Marco, the thing I like to do most is research and study things that catch my interest. Can I assume Amalia's already told you about the school that's in her kingdom?" "Yeah she has. Are you a student there?" Marco asked as he ducked his head as his monster arm swung around. "Yep, well I should say use to be a student. See my grades were the highest out of all the students there, only coming in third to Judge Zargabaath and... someone else." Sally said thinking of said person.

"Whoa, you must be really smart Sally." Marco said.

"Well I wouldn't say I'm that smart." she said scratching the back of her head modestly. "Anyway, due to my high grades, I was asked to be a researcher at Draklor Laboratory, the kingdom's magick research and development facility."

"Amalia's kingdom has a place where they study magic?" Marco asked surprised.

"Well more or less. The facility also works on developing weapons and armor for the kingdom, as well as researching and studying the different kinds of creatures that live on Draclord." Sally said.

"That's cool, and it's really neat that you get to do things like that." Marco said impressed. "Thanks, the only little down side to it is that I'm almost always there. Which means I barely get to see most of my friends, including Amalia." Sally said. "But when her mom came by and asked for someone to be assigned to help monitor Amalia's progress, I was the first one to jump at the chance to see my little hot-head again."

"Don't... start with... the names." Amalia said tiredly.

"Look who's waking up? Don't you, Star and Marco have to get going soon?" Sally said.

"Oh... right." Amalia said as she pocked Star on her nose which woke her up as the two went to got get their back packs. "Sally, while we're at school, can you continue looking for a way to reverse Star's spell?"

"Yeah sure. But I'll need a sample first." Sally said.

"Fine, just make sure it's from the arm. Not Marco, got it?" Amalia said from atop the stairs.

"Okay, sheesh." Sally said as she took out a syringe from her rode's sleeves and moved over to Marco.

"Is this going to hurt?" Marco asked.

"Hmm, good question. Seeing as how this tentacle acts on it's own sometimes, it's hard to tell really." Sally said as she moved closer.

As she did, Marco's monster arm swung itself at her. But Sally quickly caught it and held it tightly as she stretched it out, which surprised Marco.

"I really don't like when test samples act up." Sally said as she stuck the syringe into the tentacle.

Marco shut his eyes expecting to feel the piercing needle, only to feel... nothing at all. he reopened his eyes and saw Sally remove the syringe that was filled with a purple liquid from his tentacle arm and look at it.

"So, did you feel anything, Marco?" Sally asked.

"No, not really. that's weird, isn't this thing my arm, but transformed or something?" Marco asked as he looked at his monster arm. "Also, I didn't expect you to be strong enough to hold it like this Sally."

"Well research wasn't the only thing I did while at the school. Don't forget that it was also a place that trained people who would one day defend the kingdom." Sally said as continued to look at the purple liquid with a curious smile. "I can't wait to start running test on this, I wonder what I'll find?"

Star and Amalia came back downstairs, with Amalia carrying Marco's back pack.

"Okay were all set, heads up Marco," Amalia said as she tossed Marco his back pack which he caught with his left arm.

"Thanks." he said as he slung his pack over his shoulder.

"You three have fun, I've got a little monster arm research to do." Sally said happily as she let go of Marco's monster arm. But when she did, it flung itself into Marco, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Oops, sorry about that Marco." she said as she quickly ascended the stairs.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." He groaned from the ground.

* * *

 **(Echo Creek High, Lunch room)**

Later at school, Star, Amalia and Marco were looking for a place to sit for lunch, while Marco kept trying to keep his tentacle arm from knocking his lunch to the ground.

"Why does this thing want to stop me from eating so much?" Marco said.

"No clue there Marco." Star said.

"It's a monster arm, so maybe it wants to make miserable." Amalia said. "What better way to do that than make you starve."

"Well it's working," Marco said as he pulled his tray away again when the arm tried to knock it to the ground again.

As the three kept looking for a spot, they soon see a small crowd of students gathering around at a spot in the lunchroom.

"What's going on over there?" Amalia said as she walked over with Star and Marco following after her.

When they were close, they looked and saw the school bully, Lars Picket was picking on another boy.

"Oh no, it's Lars again." Marco said.

"You mean that school bully? I heard a couple other kids talking about him during class." Amalia said as she watched Lars knock the other boys lunch tray to the ground. "He looks like someone who needs to be slapped silly a couple times."

"I think I know a spell that can do just that." Star said.

"Guys please," Marco said. "The last thing either of you should do is get on Lars's bad -"

Before Marco could even finish, his monster arm stretched over and slapped Lars hard across the face, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.

"Who... did... that!?" Lars growled out angrily.

the students behind him quickly parted, reveling Marco who panicking behind them as his monster arm swayed back and forth.

"Diaz!" Lars growled. "Your going to pay for th-" he didn't get to finish as the tentacle slapped him across the face again and again and again. After getting slapped about 15 times in the face, Lars ran out of the lunch room crying like a girl. Marco's tentacle arm then helped the boy up and cleaned the dirt off him. The boy then thanked him which got him cheers from the crowed around him.

"Uh, Amalia?" Star asked. "I thought you said Marco's monster arm was trying to make him miserable?" "I said maybe Star, may-be. What I want to know is why the arm would suddenly go and do that?" Amalia said as she and Star watch as Marco was being praised by the other kids, including Jackie.

* * *

Later that night in Star and Amalia's bedroom, While the two princesses were looking through Star's book for a reverse spell, Sally was still running tests on the sample she took from this morning. Meanwhile Marco was laying on Amalia's bed looking at his tentacle arm with a small smile on his face.

"Hmm, someone seems to be in a good mode, in spite of having a tentacle for an arm." Sally said getting Marco's attention.

"Well yeah, you could say that." Marco said.

"So Marco, has the arm been acting any differently since this morning?" Sally asked as she went back to looking over the data she had so far on said arm. "Well, sort of. Today at school it helped this kid that was being bullied during lunch and even got Jackie to notice me." Marco said. "After that, it's been pretty tame." "Really? So after that incident, it's been calm all day?" Sally asked. "Yeah." "Hmm, I see." she said before she and Marco heard Star speak.

"Ah Ha! I found it! A reverse tentacle spell... I think." Star said.

"You think?" Amalia said half-hearted as she looked at the page herself.

"Maybe you should test the spell before you use it Star," Marco said a bit worriedly.

"Right, oh but I don't have anything to test it on." Star said.

"Oh, leave that to me." Sally said. She then snapped her fingers and a purple and white tome appeared in front of her.

"Whoa! Sally what is that!?" Star asked excitedly.

"This is my personal grimoire," Sally said. "It's kind of like yours and Amalia's spell books, expect I only have to say the spell name and it will happen. Like for example,"

Sally's grimoire then glows and flips open. Once it stopped on the page she wanted, Sally pointed her finger at the desk in front of Star and Amalia.

 **"Gel Magick: Sticky Salamander."** Sally as a purple circle appeared on the desk. Soon a mini lizard that looked to be made out of purple goo, came out of the circle and looked around before staring up at the two princesses.

"So cuuuute!" Star said with a giddy looking smile on her face.

"There you go Star, now you can practice the spell." Sally said. "But I can't practice on this cutesy little guy." Star said looking at the tiny gel lizard.

"Star don't worry," Amalia said. "Sally can make a million of these guys no problem. So you don't have to be concerned." "Yeah, so come on, I want to see this test run already." Sally said excitedly.

"Okay," Star said as aimed her wand at little slim lizard.

 **"Returneo Armeus Normalreno!"** Star said. A small light soon shot from her wand at the gel salamander, who started to glow for a second before exploding, which shocked the others except for Sally.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Amalia said. "Thank you we tested the spell on gel lizard here, or what's left of him."

"Oh well, if at first you don't succeed," Sally said as she summoned another mini gel salamander. 'Try, try again."

"Yeah, umm... you guys do that, I'm... going to bed. So night." Marco said as he quickly got up off Amalia's bed and headed out the door.

"Alright girls," Amalia said as she rubbed her eyes, already feeling the tiredness that was about to hit her. "Who's ready for another all nighter?"

Star groaned while Sally smiled happily at what she considers all-night magic experimenting.

All through the night the three girls stayed up testing Star's spell. and every time it ended with another gel salamander either blowing up, melting or turning into something else that tried to eat them.

It was now Saturday and the time was now 7:55 am. Star and Amalia could barely keep their eyes open, while Sally looked as if she slept well; despite staying up all night with the two as she took notes of the every attempt so far.

"Okay, so after 56 attempts, our success rate is... not so good." Sally said as she pocked both princesses on the cheek with her pencil to wake them up.

"I can't do this anymore," Star groaned tiredly. "I'm so tired, I can barely stay awake at all." "I'm right there with you Star," Amalia said as she tiredly propped her head up on her hands. "But remember, we're doing this for Marco. don't you want him to fight in his tournament?" "Yes, okay, I'll keep going... for Marco." "For Marco." the two said as they smiled at each other.

"You know, I remember you both telling me that whenever you two combined your spells, they would be more effective, right?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, but what are you getting at Sally?" Amalia asked. "I'm saying why don't you two just do that? combine two of your spells." Sally said.

"Hey she's right," Star said. "When we both use our magic together, it does get stronger. Maybe if we do it again, we could change Marco's arm back to normal." Star said.

"That sounds like it could work. But Star, remember? I don't any major healing spells." Amalia reminded her friend. "I'd have to look in my spell book, and I haven't even done that yet."

"Oh yeah Amalia, I meant to tell you this yesterday after you came home from school." Sally said as she showed Amalia and Star a piece of paper. When the two looked at it, they noticed that it had colored dots similar to the tabs on Amalia's spell book and were labeled with what each color stood for.

"See while I was studying the sample I got from Marco, I decided to go through your spell book and see if I could find out what the other colored tabs stood for. You know me, curious as ever." Sally said.

"And it's that curiousness of yours that makes me glad to know you right now." Amalia said as she looked over the paper. "Here it is, so healing spells can be found under... the white tab of the spell book!"

Amalia quickly got her book and quickly flipped through it until she came to the section that was underneath the white tab. Sure enough the pages contained a host of different healing spells that ranged from curing curses to treating sun burns.

"Oh here's one, Calming Flames of Curaja, a very powerful but simple healing spell. Simple think calming thoughts and cast the spell at the person you wish to heal." Amalia read.

"Sounds just like what we're looking for, let's test it out." Star said.

Sally summoned another gel salamander, only this one was about the her size.

"Since you two will be using your magic at the same time, I thought it be a good idea to summon a bigger test subject." Sally said. "Now come on, come on, I want to see how two different forms of magic meld together." she said excitedly.

"Why do I get the feeling your enjoying this too much, Sally?" Amalia sighed as she summoned her sword. "Whatever, Star you ready?"

"Ready!" the blonde said as she raised her wand and pointed it at the gel lizard as Amalia did the same with her sword.

 **"Returneo Armeus Normalreno!/Calming Flames of Curaja!"** the two said as a blue light shot from Star's wand while yellow flames flew from Amalia's sword. When the two spells combined, they formed a green flaming beam that surprisingly gave off a cool breeze. As the spell hit the gel salamander, it glowed for a brief second, before dimming down.

"Even using our spells together didn't work!? What in the five realms of Draclord are supposed to do now!" Amalia said as she flopped onto her bed tired and upset while Star did the same.

"Hmm, are you two sure the spell didn't work?" Sally said. "Because you both might want to take another look."

Star and Amalia look up to see what Sally meant, and their eyes widened when they saw a fully grown, human arm sticking out of the gel salamander's belly. The arm then suddenly gave the two a thumbs up as if say "way to go you two."

Star and Amalia then looked to each other before looking back at the arm.

"MARCO!" they both yelled as Star dashed out of the room while Amalia quickly shoved the purple slime made salamander out the door as she followed. Sally just smiled excitedly as she also followed the two.

When they got to Marco's room, Star kicked the door open.

"Marco look, we did! we figured out- huh?" Star said as she, Amalia and Sally looked and saw that Marco wasn't in his room

"Uh... where's Marco?" Amalia said as she looked at the vacant room.

"Oh, Star, Amalia, Sally, there you three are."

The three girls then turned and saw Mrs. Diaz standing behind them.

"Oh, Good Morning Mrs. Diaz. Have you seen Marco?" Sally asked.

"Yeah, we kind of need to do something for him." "And we can't di that unless he's here." Star and Amalia said.

"Oh, well Marco left to go to his karate tournament not too long ago." Mrs. Diaz said.

"He left already!?" Amalia said. "When!?"

"Hmm, I think he left around... 7:45." Mrs. Diaz said. "He must have really been looking forward to the tournament today the way he looked before he left."

"The way he looked?" Sally said before she suddenly remembered something. "Umm, Mrs. Diaz? When you say the way Marco looked, could you maybe descried it please?"

"Oh well, hmm... if I had the describe it, I'd say Marco like he had this very dark look to his eyes. I guess a completion will do that sometimes. Oh! Speaking of which, I should get going. I wan to see if I can beat the morning rush to the super market, there's a half prince sale on fresh produce for the first 10 people. Bye now!" Mrs. Diaz said as she ran out of the house.

"Oh, this is not good, not goo at all." Sally said.

"What? What's not good Sally!" "Yeah tell us! don't leave us in the dark here!" Star and Amalia said.

"Well, remember the tests I did on the sample I got from Marco's monster arm?" Sally asked as both princesses nodded their heads. "Well after I compiled all the data, it confirmed that the arm is... a sentient being." she said as Star and Amalia's eyes widened in shock.

"Sally, are you telling us... that the tentacle attached to Marco... is Alive!?" Amalia shouted.

"Yep, and if what Mrs. Diaz told us is correct and based on what I found out, it would seem that the arm is influencing Marco to the point he may end up seriously hurting someone." Sally said.

"WE GOTTA GET TO THAT TOURNAMET NOW!" They both yelled as they grabbed Sally and bolted for the tournament.

* * *

After getting a ride from Ratha, Star, Amalia and Sally run to Hill-Trank Plaza, where Marco told them the tournament would be.

"So how long do you think we have until the arm starts something?" Star asks until the sound of screaming is heard from the Dojo.

"Not very long, judging from the screaming." Sally said as she and the two princesses quickly ran into the Dojo. When they entered they found Marco trying to keep his monster arm that now had a mouth from eating a young boy who looked to be around 8 with brown hair and was wearing the same karate clothes as Marco.

As Marco as holding back the raving appendage, he saw Star, Amalia and Sally.

"Guys! Please tell me you found a way to change my arm back!?" Marco yelled as he was flung into a wall by the monster arm.

"Nothing you do can stop me Marco!" the arm said.

"The stinking thing can talk too!?" Amalia said shaking her head in annoyance.

"Forget that it can talk, let's just blast it the with the spell!" Star said as she raised her wand.

"Star wait, we need to restrain it first, or else it's just going to dodge when we try to hit it!" Amalia said. "But how?"

"Hmm, this looks like it could be fun, I'll do it!" Sally says as her grimoire appeared and started to glow as it opened. **"Gel Magick: Sticky Salamander!"** Sally says as she summons a large Gel salamander behind her. "Go Mr. Salamander!" She said as the summoned creature shot it's sticky tongue at Monster Arm only for it to leap and dodge out of the way each time.

"Ha! Pathetic! That pile of goo will have to move a lot faster if you want it to catch me!" the tentacle appendage taunted.

"Okay, but just remember you asked for it." Sally said as she took out a syringe that had a blue liquid in it from her sleeve.

"What's that?" Star asked but when Amalia saw the strange liquid, she just smiled knowingly.

"So I'm going to guess that's your latest crazy elixir?" Amalia said still smiling. "I'd prefer amazing elixir, thank you very much." Sally said as she injected the blue liquid into the her gel salamander.

No sooner after Sally did that, did her summoned creature change from purple to blue with small sparks arcing from it.

"Now let's try this again, Mr. Salamander!"

The now glowing blue salamander shot its tongue out so fast the Star could barely see it. Monster Arm moved as quick as it could, barely managing to dodge. But the tongue quickly redirected towards it, splitting apart in to several tendrils and pining the tentacle to the mat.

"What!? What is this!? How did that tub of slime suddenly get so fast!?" Monster Arm wailed as it struggled to free itself.

"Really wish I could tell you since you seem like such a fascinating thing," Sally said as looked down at the pinned tentacle. "But sadly, your not going to be around much longer."

"Wha!?"

"Outta the way Sally!" Amalia yelled.

Sally them moved out of the way as Star and Amalia had gathered magic into their wand and sword.

 **"Returneo Armeus Normalreno!/Calming Flames of Curaja!"** They shouted as they both fired off their spells which combined and struck Monster Arm.

"This isn't over Marco!" it yelled. "You'll neverget rid of me! I'm part of you now! You can treat the symptoms, but you'll never cure the virus!" it said before reverting back into Marco's normal arm again.

"Marco!" Star and Amalia shouted as they went over and kneeled next to the boy. "Marco, are you okay?" "Yeah, say something!"

"I'm... okay, thanks guys" Marco said thankfully. Star and Amalia then helped Marco up and brought him in for a tight group hug, happy that their friend was okay.

Sally watched as the three shared their moment with a smile cheery smile on her face.

'Hmm, Amalia really has changed since the last time I saw her.' the black haired mage thought. 'She's even made some very interesting friends,'

"Hey Sally!" "Huh?" Sally was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Amalia calling her. "What are you doing standing over there?"

"Yeah, come on, you deserve to be in this hug too!" Star said happily as she ran over and brought the older girl into the group hug as well.

Sally was surprised at first, but soon a big smile spread across her face as she melted into the hug with the others.

'Something tells me I'm going to enjoy my time here on earth. Especially, if I'm going to be around these three, haha.' Sally thought happily as the four continued hugging.

* * *

 **A/N: Well aside from some technical difficulties, I managed to get you guys this chapter! So another of Amalia's friends to add onto the crazy fun times that are to come soon! I'll see you all in chapter 10! Keep cool! ;)**

 **Also, Can any of you guess where I got Sally from? If you can I'll shout you out n the chapter I write up next!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Other Draclord Princess

**A/N: Hello, everyone! It's Mario and BFDI Bros back with chapter 9! I'm soooooo sorry for the wait! (Two and a half months. Yikes.) It was a product of a miscommunication between Keyblade and I (Around September he was like, "Ya done with the chapter?" And I didn't even know I was supposed to start it yet. Stupid me.), combined with some terrible writer's block, combined with a ridiculous amount of life. (High school is not fun. Especially AP Euro. Just kill me already…) Also I don't get notifications for the reviews so… yeah. Sorry guys.**

 **Anyway, now that we** _ **do**_ **have the chapter I have some good news! Star's Keyblade is already done with his chapter, so it'll be a 2-in-1, posted around the same time as this one!**

 **Also, I do this on some of my other stories, so… why not? Review responses!**

 _ **Nuura - So I'm the creator of Opaline, Skylar, Crescenta, and Palmero (mentioned in this chapter). The three princess were created when I wrote my first chapter, chapter 5. Since then they have been fully developed, and one of them appears in this chapter! Palmero, on the other hand, was created much later in order to occupy the fifth Realm of Draclord. In early conception ideas, I had him as Amalia's ex-boyfriend, but the idea was trashed. Instead, Amalia has a sort of ex-**_ **friend** _**(Opaline and kind of Skylar). They will appear eventually in Blood Moon Ball, and they are friends with Tom. It's gonna be an awesome chapter!**_

 **Sorry, that was long. But I did want to give a thorough explanation of the other prince and princesses of Draclord :)**

 **Now for this chapter, it's my rendition of "The Other Exchange Student." Except, this time, it's not some shady psuedo-Scandinavian named Gustav coming for a visit. Rather, it's a mysterious ex-princess of the Moon and the Bow. Enjoy!**

 **(Again, a ridiculously long A/N. Respect to you if you read all that! Now on to the story!)**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The Other Draclord Princess**

"Whoa!" shouted Amalia, "Look at that!"

Star, Marco, Amalia, and Sally were all enclosed in their own air bubbles (thanks to their new friend Sally) and were swimming through the Oceania Dimension. Star, Marco, and Sally turned to where Amalia was pointing, expecting to see a particularly interesting fish, but instead they saw something that shouldn't have been at the bottom of the ocean.

It looked like… a house, almost. Enclosed in a large air bubble was a lone pile of driftwood, sand, and shells. It was large enough to have four or so rooms, but the building was only a foot or two high, not nearly enough for someone to fit inside.

The four drifted down to the dwelling and walked around it until Amalia spotted a door. "There!" she called. The ground sloped down in a bowl around the door, allowing it to be full-sized.

"Interesting," noted Sally, "the majority of it must be underground. It seems almost humanoid-sized. I wonder what could live here."

"There you go again, getting all researcher-y!" said Star.

Although Amalia was sure she'd never been to an underwater house, something seemed eerily familiar. The door she stood in front of was made from a seven-by-four-foot piece of roughly rectangular driftwood colored red. On it was a carving: a wyvern half-standing on its hind legs so that it was positioned diagonally across the door, crossed with an arrow notched in a bow. She was certain she'd seen that before, but _where_?!

"What're we waiting for? Let's go in!"

"I recognize this door," Amalia admitted.

"In a good way or bad way?" asked Marco.

"Good-I think, I'm not sure."

"If you aren't sure, then maybe we should go back," Marco suggested tentatively.

"No, I recognize it now. But it couldn't possibly be…" she trailed off.

"Ooh, now we HAVE to go in!" said Star excitedly. "Open it! Open it! Open it!"

"Alright," Amalia responded, pushing open the door. Except it didn't budge.

"Try pulling, knucklehead," joked Sally.

Amalia rolled her eyes, pulling on the shell-knob. The door fell flat down in front of them.

Marco frowned "No hinges, huh?"

Amalia shrugged. "Probably don't find hinges laying around at the bottom of the ocean, much less someone to put them in."

The four walked inside and came face-to-faces with a young girl, about Amalia's age. She had bright apple-green eyes, and even brighter apple-red hair. She wore a comfortable-looking light-pink long-sleeve shirt with gray yoga pants. She was holding a bow, the long, curved, and wooden kind.

"Cressa!" Amalia shouted.

"Amalia?" Crescenta whispered.

Amalia ran to Crescenta, who quickly set aside the bow, but not fast enough to prepare for Amalia's tackling hug, which brought them both to the floor.

"Oof!" Cressa gasped as she hit the floor.

Amalia helped her up. "Everyone, this is Cressa!"

"Who?" asked Star and Sally in unison. Marco just gave a little wave. Cressa gave a small smile and waved back.

Amalia's shoulders sagged and she cocked her head. "I never told you about Cressa?"

"I haven't seen you since you were six," said Sally.

"You… never decided to tell me?" Star said questioningly.

"I… never got around to it?" replied Amalia.

Star shrugged, turning to Crescenta. "Hi! I'm Star Butterfly, from the Kingdom of Mewni, Mewni."

"Crescenta," she replied softly. "Realm of the Bow, Draclord."

"Oh yeah, I noticed your bow," mentioned Sally. "Is it magical?"

"It used to be," Crescenta replied. "When we fled our kingdom, I wanted to keep it, but only the monarch is supposed to have the magical bow. Also, they only have enough magical energy to make one. So that I could keep it, they drained the energy from it and filled the new bow with it. They said this one was 'getting outdated' anyway."

Everyone but Amalia, who'd seen the bow a thousand times, gave her weapon of choice a closer look. The bow itself was painted the same pink as the girl's shirt, but ancient inscriptions were still visible in it. The string was a traditional white one made of whatever bowstrings are made of.

"Huh," said Star, "can I see it?"

"Sure," said Crescenta softly, handing it over.

"Uh, Crescenta, I'm not sure you want to give Star a powerful magical object. She tends to… break things," Marco warned.

"Oh, it's fine. My bow isn't going to break," she said confidently.

Star promptly bent it into a bunch of wacky shapes. It sprang back to its original shape as soon as she let go. "Hm, magically reinforced. Maybe I could…"

"Wow, that's so cool!" Amalia interrupted. "My sword is made of reforged mythril, so it's also indestructible. What's yours made from?"

"Um, wood," Crescenta replied.

"Like I said," Star started, "Magically reinfor—"

"Wow, that must be some pretty strong wood!" exclaimed Amalia

Star frowned. "Amalia—"

"So, are you still a good shot?"

The former princess smiled. "Of course. In fact, you caught me right before an archery practice. C'mon!" She grabbed a nearby quiver stocked with arrows and slung it over her shoulder. They left through the rectangular hole in the wall, carefully replacing the door that Amalia had pulled down. They walked around to the back of the house, where a target was painted on a board of wood: green on the outer ring, red on the middle ring, and a large hole in the board that Amalia could only guess had once been the center ring.

"Watch closely," said Cressa. She knocked an arrow and let it fly. By the time they looked to see where it landed on the target, five more had thudded into the target within inches of the first.

"Wow! That's amazing, Cressa!" shouted Amalia.

"Yeah!" added Star. "Isn't the bow, like, your symbol or something?"

"Sort of," Cressa answered. "It's the weapon of our realm. The weapons are Amalia's sword, Opa's spear, Kyla's lightning bolt, and Palmero's scythe."

"I thought you called her Kylar?" Marco asked Amalia.

"Yeah, Cressa likes to drop the 'r.'"

Everyone turned to Cressa, who shrugged. "I like how it sounds. Kylar and I were friends a bit before we met Opa and Mali. I called her Kyla from early on, but Opa and Mali call her Kylar. It's just kind of a thing."

"Mali?" questioned Star.

Amalia smiled. "Mali, Amalia? That's me."

"Ohhhhhhhh, you've got like a system going here, huh?"

"Yep."

"Anyway," Cressa continued, "most realms are known for their weapon and a sort of theme. Mine's the moon; that's why my name is Crescenta. _Sky_ lar is weather, and _Opal_ ine is gemstones."

"What about your kingdom, Amalia?" Star asked.

"Well, mine is kind of debated. It's not like my name gives anything away. Some people say we're known for wyverns, since they're mostly native to our realm, although they're all over Draclord now. We've been called many things. Does your kingdom have something to do with butterflies?" Amalia finished, winking.  
Star began to shake her head, but as she thought about her mother's strange butterfly form, she decided that Amalia wasn't wrong. "Actually, in a way, yes."

Sally had been thinking. "Then why did you guys come here, underwater? You can't even see the moon!"

Crescenta got very quiet. "Well, that's the point. The moon reminds her of my dad, King Gibbouso, who-"

She was interrupted by Star's shout of "Ahhhhh! A shark!"  
"Actually," countered Marco, "most sharks are relatively safe to be around-" he frowned when he saw the creature.

It was as big as a whale, bright green with splotches of pink. It was staring directly at them, snapping its jaws.

"On a second thought, magical sharks might be an exception," Marco decided.

Still panicked and feeling a rush of adrenaline, Star shouted, " _Giant Rainbow Rocket Blast_!" sending everyone flying straight up until they hit the wall of water that, a moment before, had been high above them. Sally quickly pulled out her magical book (which must've somehow been waterproof) and created bubbles around each of them.

"Whoo, I got us out of there!" Star exclaimed.

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to get back to my house?" Crescenta mentioned. The shark was now circling around above the dwelling, waiting for its prey to come back down.

"Oh, right…"

Amalia gasped, realizing something. "Cressa, this is perfect! You should totally stay with us! If it's okay with Marco, of course."

"The more the merrier," he replied, shrugging. "I'm sure my parents will be fine with it. You're pretty tame, compared to these two." He pointed at Amalia and Star.

"I… I can't. My mom will be so worried when she gets back. It's… all right. I'll just stay until the shark swims away."

They stared down at the shark for a solid minute. "Pleeeease, Cressa? It'll be fun! And it's not like that shark is going anywhere," protested Amalia.

Cressa bit her lip, unsure.

"I could make something," volunteered Sally, pulling out her spell book. "I can leave something that will show your location." She flipped through her book before finding the right page. "Aha! Right here." She performed the spell.

Suddenly, a purple ball of light appeared. "When your mother touches it, it will burst and show the Diaz house."

"Thank you," replied Cressa.

"Wait, so you're coming?" squealed Amalia.

She nodded.

"Yessssssssssss!" Amalia shouted. "I can't wait! Let's go!" She sliced her sword through the water, but it wasn't nearly as dramatic as usual, as her sword went outside her bubble and therefore movedin underwater slow motion. "Wait for it…"

A portal slowly opened in the water. Once it was fully open, Amalia swam in, followed by all her friends. Cressa brought up the rear, glancing one more time at her little house at the bottom of the sea before Amalia grabbed her from the other side of the portal and pulled her in.

They landed in Amalia and Star's shared room. Marco looked between the two beds, one covered in plushies of rainbows, kittens, rainbow kittens and everything in between; the other with posters of wyverns above it. "Where will our new guest sleep?"

"Well," replied Star, "when we created the room, Amalia and I casted our own spells at the same time. Maybe you could try casting one, Cressa."

"It's Crescenta…" she murmured.

"Oh." Star said, startled. "Okay... Crescenta."

"Anyway, I don't have a magical object, remember? And I haven't learned how to dip down yet."

"Oh. Right."

"Maybe I could try restoring the magic!" Sally inserted. "You said there's traces of the original magic, right? Maybe if we could take those traces and mix them with a solute…. Here, can I see the bow?"

While the two engaged in conversation, Star asked Amalia, "What's the deal with not letting me call her Cressa?"

"Oh, it's kind of a thing… just between the four of us, you know. It's almost strange to be called 'Mali' after all this time…."

"But aren't I her friend too?"

"Cressa's… a bit shy around new people. But once she's familiar with you, it goes away."

"Oh, how long does that take? An hour of hanging out?"

Amalia seemed to cringe. "Like a year. But if you take the time to really get to know her, she's really a great person, and she actually has a really interesting personality. She was the heart of our group."

Star raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't seem like a very life-of-the-party kind of girl."

Amalia laughed. "No, that's Kylar. But what I meant is that she connected us."

Star frowned, "I don't get it."

Amalia smiled, but almost ruefully. "Cressa tends to have that effect on people. But once you truly do _get_ her, you're friends for life. Or until she moves into a house of driftwood at the bottom of the ocean in another dimension."

Star just shook her head, clearly confused.

"Hmm, this could work!" came Sally's voice. She pointed her spell book at the bow. " _Magnus Magicus_!" she recited. The a light emitted from the bow, making it glow. Everyone watched in awe and excitement. Everyone except Cressa, who never seemed very excited anyway. Then the glow dissipated.

"Was that… supposed to happen?" asked Marco.

Sally bit her lip. "Try it?"

Crescenta shrugged, nocking an arrow. " _Icy Arrow Blast_ ," she recited unemotionally, letting the arrow fly. It thudded into the wall without a trace of iciness or blasty-ness. "It didn't work. The arrows need to be magical, too. This quiver used to magically produce an unlimited supply of magical arrows, but it too was drained."

'"But did we get the bow to work, at least?" asked Amalia

Crescenta didn't seem to think so, but she tried muttering something into it, but nothing happened. "The first line of the Whispering Spell had no effect. This bow is still plain old wood."

"Whoa, you have that spell too?" Star exclaimed.

"It's the first spell my mother taught me," remarked all three princesses in unison.

"Whoa, that's weird. Like, creepy weird," said Star.

"Anyway, do we have any other ideas?" questioned Amalia.

"Actually-" Star started.

"How about some nachos?" Marco proposed.

Everyone nodded in excited agreement. Everyone except Crescenta, who never seemed very excited anyway.

"But I have an idea…" her voice trailed off as Marco, Amalia, and Sally approached the stairs and started down.

Star sighed, shifting her gaze slightly down. She jumped when she noticed Cressa-sorry, _Crescenta_ -standing uncomfortably close with her bow in her hands. "Do you want to try?" she asked, barely audible even at the uncomfortably close proximity.

Star took a step back. "Yeah! Let me just get my spell book…" She started shouting Glossaryck's name until she found the giant book under her bed. She opened it, and the little blue man named Glossaryck popped out. "Glossaryck! Flip to the Whispering Spell!"

"Sure thing, Star," he said as the pages flipped themselves. "But you don't actually intend to use it, surely?"

The pages settled near the beginning of the book. Across both the left and right pages, a lined recitation was scrawled, complete with twelve quatrain stanzas in trochaic tetrameter. At least, that's what her mother had told her. To be honest, she had no idea what most of those words meant. Instead of reading the spell, she flipped the page, finding exactly what she was looking for.

"Magical Object Revival Spell," Glossaryck commented. "A rather useful spell, if I do say so myself, which I do, of course. However, it does drain some magic from the Magic Dimension, so I wouldn't use it repeatedly."  
"Uh-huh," replied Star distractedly as she scanned the spell. It looked a lot like the Whispering Spell, although it only covered one page, thankfully. "I think I can manage it. Your bow, Cress-Crescenta, I mean? And your shiver?"  
"Quiver," she corrected, handing them over.

Star held the bow in her right hand and the quiver in her left then recited the spell, line by line, stanza by stanza. Finally, it was complete. A flashing white light temporarily blinded them. When it faded, the bow and quiver seemed to be humming with energy, much like Star's own wand.

Star let out a breath. "I think it worked."

"Let's see," said Crescenta, almost-but only almost-excited. She took the quiver and removed all the arrows, tossing them to the ground. She looked back inside and pulled out a new arrow, its shaft green and matching her eyes, its tip and fletching matching the red of her hair. Smiling, she nocked it to her bow, sending it flying into one of Star's rainbow kitten plushies.

"No!" Star cried, rushing over to it.  
Crescenta calmly approached the arrow and pulled it out. As Star watched, the fabric mended itself back together, "I shot a self-healing arrow," she explained. "Used as to not injure anyone. Permanently, anyway. But they can be lethal. Or elemental. Or anything, really. Crescenta loosed dozens of sparkling arrows, first diagonally up the wall, then in a straight line, just under a window. Star blinked. When she opened her eyes, a stairway had formed up to a bed that sort of hung there against the wall, about nine feet off the floor. Not unlike the other two princesses, decorations lined her bed. Star could make out a large red hat with eyes just above the brim. **(A/N: Any guesses?)** She waited to see if they blinked. They didn't. Just a normal plushie, she supposed, but she felt like it was staring at her.

"Wow, that's so cool!" shouted Star.

Crescenta looked proudly up at it. "It certainly is an upgrade from my real bedroom. Now how about those… nachos, are they?"

"I'm down!"

* * *

Inside Ludo's Castle, Ba'Gamnan paced, hands clasped behind his back. "The Mewni girl has revived the old Bow and Quiver, it seems. She will be an extra problem to handle, but the prize would be twofold. This is simply too good an offer to pass up. And what have we to lose?"

"I'm listening," replied Ludo.  
Ba'Gamnan stepped back in surprise at the tiny figure. "Good grief, don't startle me like that. Regardless, what do you say?"

"I'm always up for a battle with Star and Marco!"

"We need a new tactic, though, if we are to best them this time."

"Yeah, we have to catch them off guard!" Ludo inserted, making punching motions.

"Perhaps while they sleep. Yes, that sounds good. I doubt we would be able to simply pluck their magical objects right out from under their asleep noses, no that'd be too easy. But perhaps we could surprise them and overtake them while they are still groggy. Ludo, do you agree?" The question was simply a formality; Ludo always agreed with whatever Ba'Gamnan said, as long as it included a fight with Star Butterfly and a chance to get her wand.

"Of course! I can't wait to get this thing started!"

"Be at the Diaz house at midnight, Earth Pacific Standard Time."

"We'll be there."

"Oh, and be sure not to let your army fall asleep before then," he said pointedly.

"I'll be sure to."

"Then it's settled. Let this be the last time we have to battle for those magical relics." Once Ludo was out of earshot, he added, "And the last time I have to work with that annoying little kappa-creature."

* * *

"Goodnight, everyone!" Star shouted a bit too loudly as the three princesses (including one ex-princess) settled into bed.

"Goodnight, Star! Goodnight, Cressa!" Amalia whispered.

Cressa remained silent, only reaching her hands up and waving them in some intricate pattern. Amalia smiled in the bed beside Star, causing the latter to huff and cross her arms. It had to be yet another one one of their exclusive "friendship codes" that she wouldn't be let in on.

Her thoughts drifted, settling on Crescenta. _She's so quiet… too quiet, almost. I'm getting a weird vibe from her. I bet she's hiding something. I'll be sure to keep an eye on her._

* * *

She suddenly awoke to a noise. In her half-awake state, she couldn't discern where the sound had come from, or even what it was. She looked around, rubbing her eyes, and two things came together: Crescenta's empty bed and the open window. Star narrowed her eyes. Their young ex-princess guests had snuck out in the middle of the night. What could she be doing? There was only one way to find out.

Follow her.

She got out of bed slowly and quietly, being sure not to wake Amalia. She crept up the narrow stairwell Crescenta had created to get up to her bed. She then stepped onto Crescenta's bed, wincing as it creaked. As she looked down at the girl's bed out of instinct from hearing the noise, she realized that, even though Crescenta was really quiet, she seemed to have a wide range of interests, many of which she'd never seen before. A plushie of a small orange fire-breathing lizard something right next to a ball with red on the top hemisphere and white on the bottom. A book with a young wizard on its cover who had a lightning-bolt-shaped scar. A small volleyball. A medal labeled: **2011 Spelling Bee Champion**. Seeing it all reminded Star of what Amalia had told her earlier: _She actually has a really interesting personality._ "Hm," she muttered.

Strangely, the weird red hat with the eyes was nowhere to be seen.

Apparently satisfied with the inspection of their guest's bed, she crept out the window. Standing on the sill, she looked out across the landscape but didn't see any movement except an owl staring at her from a branch in a tree below. Then she heard a cough. It seemed to be coming from _above_ her, strangely. Above and behind. Curious, she hauled herself up to the top of the magically-installed structure, being sure to get her balance on the slick, rounded surface before continuing. As she traversed the dome, the girl she was searching for came into view, wearing that red hat with eyes that had been missing from her bed. She looked a bit ridiculous wearing it, but, at the same time, it sort of... _fit_ her.

"What are you doing here?" Star asked in her best accusatory voice as she approached the former princess.

The other girl shrugged without looking back. "The moon was on this side of the house."

I cocked my head in puzzlement but instead asked, "So what's the deal with the hat?"

She took him—it, she meant—off and looked at it in her hands. "Oh, this." She smiled at it. "This is just something special to me, personally. An inside joke, if you will."

"With who?" asked Star, fully expecting the answer to be "Amalia."

Crescenta shrugged. "Myself, I guess."

"Wait, not Amalia?" questioned Star, more surprised than suspicious.

"No, even she has no idea what this thing is." The other girl laughed lightly. "She has tried to guess sometimes, but she's never been right."

"Well, what is it?" Star asked. For some reason, she was eager to know something about Crescenta that Amalia didn't.

"He's a character from a video game. His name is Cappy."  
 _Video game, red hat, eyes…._ she thought. _Wait._ "Can I see it?"

She patted the space next to her. Star came and sat, prompting Crescenta to show her the hat.

"Yeah! It's the hat from the game with the red-and-blue guy with a mustache, right? I think I saw Tom playing that once. Before he engulfed the screen in flames, of course."

"Who's Tom?"

"Oh, my ex-boyfriend."

Crescent's eyes widened. "Yikes."

Star replayed the last two sentences she had said in her mind and laughed, realizing the reason for Crescenta's surprise. "Oh yeah, he was a demon. But he wasn't all that bad. For a demon. Anyway, why did you bring the hat out here?" She was eager to change the subject.

"Well, you saw all the things in my bed as you climbed up-"

"Wait, how do you know that?!"

She shrugged. "How else were you going to get up here through the window? I also heard my bed creak. Anyway, each of those things reminds me of something. Something I used to like." She looked down at the hat. "Or still like." She looked back out at the moon. "But, when Mom and I left Draclord, we couldn't take much with us. At the time, my little trinkets had seemed so frivolous." She hugged the Cappy plushie to her chest. "But it's good to have them back. I missed them even more than I thought I would."

There was a silence, then Star got up. "You can keep staring at the moon or whatever, but I'm gonna go back inside."

Just as she turned and began to leave, she heard Crescenta's response: "I haven't seen the moon in over a year." The pure solemnity in her voice caused Star to stop and turn her head to listen. But the once-princess-of-the-Moon wasn't turned and talking to her; she still sat staring—and talking—at the vast night and the luminous moon. "It's felt like… an eternity. And guess what, the one day I'm out here to see it, guess what phase of moon is out." Star looked out of the moon. Instead of being a crescent, it seemed like a full moon but with a crescent of black; nearly full but not quite. "A gibbous moon. A waning gibbous." There was a long pause before she gave an explanation. "Gibbouso was my father." The word _was_ struck Star as if with force. "I miss him." She said it evenly, but she gulped audibly at the end.

Unsure of quite what to do, Star walked back to her, crouched down and hugged her awkwardly, saying, "I'm sorry."

Cressa smiled back. After a pause, Star stood. "Goodnight, Tara," said Cressa.

She stood there in puzzlement until, after a moment, it hit her. S **tar** , **Tar** a. She had just given her a nickname. She smiled to herself. "'Night, Cressa."

Then she slipped over the side of the roof, through the window, inside the room, and into her bed. But as she lay there, her wide smile turned to a frown.

She still had a nagging bad feeling about Cressa. Maybe it was all a ploy, trying to get Star comfortable with her. She bet that Cressa didn't even have a dad named Gibbouso. Maybe she was planning to bring Ludo and Ba'-whatever to ambush them. Star grabbed her wand from her nightstand and silently slipped it under her pillow. She'd have to be on high alert.

* * *

She suddenly awoke to a noise. Getting a feeling of déjà vu, she muttered to herself that it was just Cressa again, still on the roof. Then she jumped as she heard Ludo's loud screeching voice: "WAKE UP, YOU LOUSY MINIONS!"

She could have sworn she heard a facepalm even from so far away, which she knew to be Ba'Gamnan. She bolted out of bed, shooting a quick spell at Amalia that made her jump out of bed in an electric shock. "Okay! I'm awake!" she shouted, quickly trying to flatten the hair that stood up with static electricity. Now more or less fully conscious, she began processing the situation. "Ba'Gamnan?"

"And Ludo," Star shouted as she raced out the window, breaking her fall with a shout of " _Mini Rainbow Rocket Blast_!" which sent her back into the air and let her land gracefully.

"Impressive," Amalia said with a shrug from above. Then she leapt out of the window, spinning her sword around her so fast that she became but a blur. Then the air began to swirl around her, creating a mini tornado that set her on the ground lightly. Marco and Sally simply rushed out from the ground-level door of the house into the backyard, and they all faced the approaching army, headed by the stout little creature of Ludo and the tall, scaly Ba'Gamnan.

"I knew it!" shouted Star. "I knew there was something off about Crescenta! And just look, the day she comes, Ludo and Ba'Gamnan just _happen_ to come for a sneak attack that night! And guess who's the only one not here fighting them?"

Everyone looked around for the girl, but she was nowhere to be found. Amalia tried to say something to defend her friend, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't find anything to say.

Instead, Marco spoke up. "We don't know that for sure, Star. We should give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she didn't exactly seem to be the type to plot against us."

"Oh, but she was," countered Star. "She was always quiet, too quiet, because she had a secret that she didn't want us to know about. The secret that she was plotting against us."

Now it was Sally's turn to step in. "Why would she do that, Star? She has nothing against us!"

Before Star could retort, Ludo cried, "CHARGE!" in a shrill voice that forced everyone to cover their ears. After recovering from their original shock, the enemy troops charged.

As they did, Gabranth burst from the house, shouting, "Why was I not made aware of this?!"

"Get Ratha!" was Amalia's shouted response.

Then the parties converged, and the fighting began. At first, Star shot spell after spell in front of her, and then she began whirling around and sending spells in every direction as enemies approached her from either side and behind until there was no "front" or "behind" anymore, just a chaotic mass of monsters.

Amalia slashed and hacked all around her, shooting off the occasional spell once she had momentarily felled all the monsters around her. Then she was drawn back into close-quarter fighting and resumed cutting left and right with her magical blade.

Marco and Sally worked side-by-side. Not even looking up from her book, she blasted spells at the enemies, while Marco chopped, elbowed, and jump-kicked anyone who got too close.

Eventually, Gabranth charged in riding Ratha, who spewed streams of fire everywhere.

In the midst of it all, Star realized something. Something that was terribly wrong. Whenever they had been attacked by Ludo's and Ba'Gamnan's goons, they had always formed up next to each other and held them off side-by-side so that they couldn't be surrounded. Like they were now. Everything had happened so fast, from being fast asleep to fighting, that everyone had just started fighting before they could get together. And now the goons were closing in on her, fast. She spun in a circle, shouting " _Super Monster Repel!"_ The monsters were pushed back momentarily before surging back in, closing in around her so close that there was nothing she could do. "Help!" she yelped, her voice muffled by the numerous bodies surrounding her. She glanced at her friends for help, but they were all in similar situations, and Ratha was now engaged with the Tigrex and Nargacuga that Ba'Gamnan had brought last time, which had shown up at some point without her noticing. Her eyes reverting back to the imminent threat, she could see the scaly, goopy, and all other sorts of hands and appendages groping for her and for her wand. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for them to overtake her.

Then they stopped. She opened her eyes to see that all of the monsters surrounding her had been covered with a sheen of ice and had an arrow with a green shaft and red fletching sticking out of their bodies in one place or another. She looked over to her friends between the gaps to see Amalia surrounded by a ring of fire arrows, and beyond her she saw monsters and lizards backing away from Marco and Sally as a few final neon-yellow lightning bolts struck near them, the air still crackling with electricity. Across the yard, where Ratha was struggling against the two of Ba'Gamnan's wyverns, vines and roots snaked up from the ground to hinder the enemy wyverns as blazing green arrows hit the ground near them.

The tide of the battle had entirely changed. And by who? Well, the arrows gave it away, didn't they?

The former Princess of the Bow leapt from the rooftop, sending a torrent of wind arrows at her feet to slow her fall.

"Regroup!" Star shouted, and everyone came to the middle except Gabranth, who, because of the distraction, had been bought enough time to fetch Saber and was wrangling him into the battle. As the monsters recovered from their initial shock and began to continue attacking, the three Draconoids, one Mewnian, and one Earthling all fought side by side with a bow, sword, book, wand, and their bare hands. Five strong, they were able to hold the monsters back.

"No!" cried Ba'Gamnan. "Get me that bow!"

"You want it?" shouted Cressa, startling Star. It was by far the loudest she'd ever heard the girl speak. "Catch it!"

She tossed her bow toward Ba'Gamnan, at least fifty feet away, but her aim was perfect. The only problem was who she was aiming at. Star, Marco, and Sally watched the bow with bewilderment and defeat. Amalia, however, appeared confident, almost smug. As it turned out, Ba'Gamnan's eyes went wide, and he was so surprised that he couldn't catch it. It swung around and thunked into his scaly head, then, like a boomerang, whirled around and came back to Cressa's hand.

Now Star understood. Cressa has deftly unstrung her bow and thrown it like a boomerang. Now that she noticed, the unstrung bow looked strikingly similar to that object.

" _Super Boomerang Bow Throw!"_ Amalia and Cressa shouted at the same time. Normally, Star would have been upset about not being let in on the moment, but for some reason, it didn't bother her this time.

Meanwhile, Ludo stared at Ba'Gamnan's limp form on the ground in shock. Then he ordered shakily, "Retreat, everyone, retreat! The lizard has fallen!" Struggling to drag Ba'Gamnan's unconscious body, he cut a portal and stumbled through it, followed by all his minions and Ba'Gamnan's.

"Th-thanks, Crescenta," Star said, not meeting Crescenta's eyes as she remembered what she'd said before the battle. Had she heard what she'd said? From the way Crescenta looked at her, she suspected that she had. "I'm sorry," she eventually said, "about accusing you earlier. Whether you heard or not, I shouldn't have said it. I just… had this feeling, and I don't know what it was, but—"

"Hate to say it, but I think I know what that feeling was," said Marco. "Jealousy. It's not your fault, though."

"Yeah, I'm… I'm sorry. I guess that I was just jealous because you and Amalia were such great friends, and I felt a bit left out."

"I'm sorry you felt that way," Cressa said quietly. "Amalia and I were friends from long ago, and it's difficult to jump in now, with our bonds already formed. But we can try to make you feel included." She smiled. "'Kay, Tara?"

Star smiled back. "'Kay."

Amalia looked between the two quizzically. "Wait, when did that happen?"

Star and Cressa looked at each other then replied, at the same time, "Our secret." They laughed.

Amalia frowned, then shrugged. "I guess I'll find out someday."

* * *

The five teens re-entered the house, leaving Gabranth to round up Ratha and Saber. They returned to bed, and Star, as well as everyone else, fell asleep immediately, exhausted from the fight. Everyone else except one, that was.

Sometime during the night, Star was abruptly awoken by a nightmare about being chased by a giant grilled cheese. (Grilled cheese can be soooo creepy. You have _no_ idea.)

She tried laying back down, but sleep wouldn't come. She stole a glance at Cressa's bed. It was empty. Star knew just where to find her.

She slipped onto the roof. As she approached, without looking back at her, Cressa patted the spot to left of her. Star wasn't even surprised; she simply sat down next to her. "That was pretty amazing, earlier," she said.

Cressa smiled. "Thanks. I don't really like to fight, but you were in trouble."

Star narrowed her eyes. "You seemed to be having fun there," she teased.

"Well, I do like using my bow," she conceded. Then, after a pause, she patted the seat to her right.

Star frowned. "Huh?" She turned around to see Amalia walking up to them.

Amalia smiled. "Hey, Cressa! I knew I'd find you out here. And Star, you're here too? Looks like I came late!"

"Hey, Mali," said Cressa.

As Amalia sat down, Star questioned Cressa, "I've been meaning to ask, _how_ do you know someone's coming like that?!"

Cressa shrugged. "Archers must have excellent hearing to be successful. And their own set of instincts."  
"So, what are we all doing out here?" Amalia asked jubilantly.

Star shrugged, and Cressa answered, "Just moon-gazing one last time before I leave."

"Ah." Amalia looked up at the moon. "A gibbous, huh?"  
"Yep." Cressa gave her a challenging look. "Waning or waxing?"

"Aw, how am I supposed to know?"

"It'd be waning at this time of the month, wouldn't it?" Star remarked.

Cressa looked at her with suspicion. "I already told you that."

"Really, when?"

"Just before the battle."  
Star tried to recall their first conversation on the roof. "Oh, right. But I swear I knew that!"

Laughter rang through the night from the three girls on the roof as everyone else in the neighborhood slept silently. They chatted and laughed about anything and everything for hours upon end, until color began to seep up above the horizon.

* * *

Eventually, Cressa stood. "I really do need to be getting home now. My mother's probably worried enough already. I'll miss you both."

"Miss you too, Cressa," Star said.

"We'll see each other again soon, let's be sure of it."

Cressa smiled weakly. "Yeah…."

"We will, 'kay?"

Cressa nodded. "Goodbye, Mali; goodbye, Tara!"

"Goodbye!" said both girls.

They all hugged, then stepped back. Cressa took an arrow from her quiver-slowly, this time. In her hand, the shaft became alight with dark purple tendrils of something resembling flame. She nocked it to the bowstring, pulled it back, aiming straight above her for the sky, and let the arrow fly. It sailed into the night sky until it was out of sight, cutting open a tall portal as it went. Cressa turned to walk through, but then, as if as an afterthought, she turned back and hugged them both quickly, saying "Farewell!" and leapt through the portal just as the arrow landed, stuck in the roof, sealing off the portal behind her. Both girls went to grab it and managed to do so together without getting in each other's way. Then they worked together to tug the arrow out, falling onto the ground, laughing, when they did.

After examination of the arrow, they discovered that it had lost its magic. They snapped in half, Amalia taking the fletching, Star taking the tip.

Amalia yawned. "I should probably get a little bit of sleep if I can."  
Star yawned in return. "Me too, I guess. They slipped back through the window and almost fell the nine feet to the ground before realizing that Cressa's bed was gone. Then they climbed down, dropped carefully to the ground, and returned to their respective beds.

"Good, er, morning, I guess," said Amalia.

"Good morning!"

Star fell asleep instantly, for the third time that night. But this time, instead of clutching her weapon beneath her pillow, she held Cressa's arrow.

* * *

 **Ta-da! What did you think of the new character? Cressa will appearing again, for sure! :) If you were confused a bit, especially about what happened to her dad, be sure to check chapter 5 and do a ctrl+f "Cressa". It's explained in more detail there.**

 **Also, that was a lot of Star POV, but I think it's kinda necessary for this chapter. Got some Amalia in at the beginning though. :P**

 **See ya soon!**


	10. Chapter 10: Operation: Cheer up Star

**Hey everyone! It's finally time, time for the next chapter of Star and Amalia vs the forces of Darkness! (Crickets chirping) Okay guys, yes I know It's been like a long time since the last chapter. But remember, I'm not the only one writing this story. Mario and BFDI Bros is also helping make this story happen, but he got hit hard with a case of "writer's slump", so we're going to be skipping "The Other Exchange Student" episode and going to the "Cheer up Star" episode. Only there are going to be a few minor changes, so be prepared.**

 **Okay, I've kept guys waiting long enough, let's get started.**

 **Chapter 10: Operation – Make Star happy again**

It was just another Wednesday night in Echo creek. The sky was dark, the moon was shining, and Star, Marco, Amalia, and Sally were running for their lives as Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's armies were closing in on them.

"Quick! To the shed!" Marco yelled to the others.

"Amalia! Star! In front of you!" Sally shouted as she used her grimoire to summon several gel bubbles that quickly trapped a couple of Ludo's monsters.

"We see them Sally!" Amalia said as her sword began to glow. "Star! Combo Time!"

"Right!" Star said as her wand began to glow as well.

" **Cupcake Blast!** " " **Lightning Dragon Tail Whip!** " They both shouted. Star fires a storm of pink crystal cupcakes from her wand into the air as an elongated spectral dragon tail extends from the blade of Amalia's sword and crackles with electricity. Amalia then swung the ghostly electric tail at the airborne cupcakes, launching them at both approaching armies. The combined attack either knocked a couple of them out or electrified them into submission. Star and Amalia then quickly ran towards the shed where Marco and Sally were.

"Sally quick! We're going to need a stronger defense than this!" Amalia said as ran in with Star.

Sally nodded as her grimoire began to glow as she prepared the spell.

" **Gel Creation Magic: Coiling Salamander Dome!** " Sally says as a purple gel salamander appears and begins to wrap itself around the area of the shed. "And just to make extra sure you guys stay out," Sally then takes out a syringe from her coat sleeves and injects it into her spell. " **Dark Magic Item: Property Boost- Durability!** " Her gel salamander then turns dark green as it starts to harden. "Good luck getting through that!" Sally said teasingly as she darts into the shed with the others and shuts the door.

"CORN HUSKS!" Ludo shouted. "How are we supposed to get through that!?"

"Quit you balling you." Ba'Gamnan said as he and his siblings walked next to Ludo and Buff Frog. "Just start having your bigger boys hammer away at that wall there. Once it's taken enough of a beating, I'll have our "extra muscle" break it down in one go." He sneered as Rinok held up a chain that lead to an open portal that was behind them.

"Well what are you idiots waiting for!?" Ludo shouted. "Start tearing down that stupid thing!"

Ludo's larger monsters began slamming against the dome.

Inside the shed, Star, Marco, Amalia, and Sally were prop up against the door as the whole shed shook from the beating Sally defense spell was taking.

"Uh Sally? How long do you think that spell of yours will hold out?" Star asked as the shed was rocked again.

"Umm… not sure?" Sally said unsurely. "This is the first time I've tried that elixir, and it's still in the testing phase. But it seems to be holding out." She said as the shed was rocked again. "For the most part anyway."

"Sally, you want to stop talking about your crazy elixir and help me and Marco out here, please?" Amalia said as she moved the two away from the door and pushed a trash can that had several cans of paint stacked on in front of it.

"Sally, can you help find some stuff that can be used to make armor?" Marco said as he was rummaging through a pile of things.

"On it," Sally said as she started searching too.

"Ugh, what the heck was I thinking? How could I have been so stupid?" Marco said.

"You? Marco if anyone here is stupid, then it's me." Amalia said as she placed more things in front of the door. "I mean, what the heck was I thinking when I suggested that plan in the first place? A Deviljho could come up with a better plan than me, and those things only care about eating anything that moves."

"Um not trying to one up you Amalia, but I think the title of stupidest person goes to me." Sally said as she climbed up to a shelf to grab something. "I mean it was kind of my stupid plan that made the situation we're in worse, so…" she said as she tried to pull out what she was getting but found that it was stuck. "Can I get a hand over here, please?"

"Hold on," Amalia said as she grabbed Sally by her waist and pulled as she tried to get the item she was after.

"Guys, what the heck is going on!?" Star asked them to which the three looked between each other with guilt.

"Okay Star," Marco stared. "This whole thing… maybe… all our faults." He said with both Amalia and Sally laughing nervously.

"What!?" Star said upset. "What did you- " Star stopped mid-sentence when she heard heavy breathing. She looked to the window and saw two of Ba'Gamnan's minions glaring at her from the other side. She slowly closed the window shutters before continuing what she was saying to her friends. "What did you guys do?"

"Uh well… Star you see- Whoa!" Amalia tried to say before she and Sally fell onto the floor after they managed to get what Sally was reaching for which turned out to be a decorative skull. "Sally, what was the point in getting this!?"

"Umm…" Sally said before the shed was rocked again as the two armies outside continued to try and get in.

"Guys, come on!" Marco said as Amalia quickly got up to search for something that could help.

"Uh… Star hold this please?" Sally said as she handed the skull to Star for her to hold as she followed Amalia over to Marco.

"Guys?" Star said as she was beginning to get inpatient.

"Okay, I found… all this stuff. Maybe we can make some sort of armor." Amalia said as she dumped a pile of random things in front of Marco and Sally.

"Ugh, I guess we'll have to use this stuff." Marco said as he put on a welding mask. "Now where does dad keep his blowtorch?" The shed was rocked again by the assault outside. But it also caused the item Marco was looking for to fall right into his hands. "Oh, here it is."

"So you're going to welled this together to make armor?" Amalia questioned.

"Uhh… yeah?" Marco answered back.

"… you want me to summon some crystals? They could help add more protection to it." Amalia said holding her sword up.

"Great idea, that would help a lot." Marco said. "Alright then." Amalia said as she started summoning crystals.

"Guys," Star said again trying to get the three's attention and again she was ignored.

"Hmm, Amalia maybe you should focus on summoning Jade stones." Sally said. "I read in a book that there by far the strongest gemstones."

"Ooooh, I like the sound of that. How about it Marco?" Amalia asked.

"That sounds perfect." Marco said.

"GUYS!" Star yelled finally getting their attention as she dropped the decorative skull on the ground. "What. Is. Going. On?" she said glaring at them.

Marco, Amalia, and Sally looked at each other before sighing and looking back at Star.

"Alright, who wants to tell her?" Sally asked other two guiltily parties.

"I'll do it," Marco said. "This whole thing started with me anyway." He said before looking back at Star who had stopped glaring. "Okay Star, do you remember when I – "

"Uh technically Marco," Sally interrupted. "Amalia and I were also having that same bad day too. So,"

Amalia placed her hand over Sally's mouth to shut her up.

"Sally for the love of…sigh. Star, do you recall how mine and Marco's day started?" Amalia asked as she and the Latino boy started to recall the events that lead to where they are now.

* * *

 **(Flashback, earlier today)**

Marco and Amalia were currently running as fast as they could after their school bus that had just pulled off without them.

"Tell me… again… why we couldn't… just ride on… Ratha… to school again!?" Amalia said in between breathes as she ran alongside Marco after the bus.

"One… we wouldn't be… running if… Sally hadn't… gotten us stuck… to the wall… with her latest… crazy thing this morning." Marco said as he ran. "And two… Gabranth said… he was taking… Saber and Ratha… for their checkups… today."

"Oh right… I forgot." Amalia said as the two teens kept running.

When Marco was close enough to the bus's side, he hit his hand against it to get the driver's attention. One of the windows slide open as Star stuck her head and saw her two friends running.

"Wow, look at you two, jogging to school, in the zoooone." Star said.

"What!? Star that's so not it right now!" Amalia said.

"We're trying… to catch… the bus!" Marco said before Star cut him off.

"No I get it; keep your focus, stay in that zone." Star said as she closed the window.

"Alright, that's… it!" Amalia said as she summoned her sword and ran ahead of Marco. "I am… making this… stupid thing bus stop… if it's the last thing- "

The bus then suddenly stops and unfolds it's stop sign. However, Amalia didn't stop in time and smacked face first into it and fell backward. Marco quickly rushed over to the downed girl and helped her sit up. When he looked Amalia over, he saw that she had gotten a black eye from hitting the stop sign and that she had also scraped up her face a little.

"You okay Amalia!?" Marco asked concerned.

Amalia groaned as Marco helped her up. "I'm fine Marco," she said as the bus door opened to revel the driver.

"Oh, so that banging against the bus just now was one of you then?" the driver asked before he got a look at Amalia. "Whoa kid, what happened to you?"

Marco looked worriedly at his friend as she narrowed her eyes at the ignorant driver before she spoke.

"Let's just say some moron suddenly threw his stop sign out in front of me and I ran into it." Amalia said as she stepped onto the bus with Marco following her.

"Wait, seriously? What kind of idiot does that?" the driver said as he closed the door as Marco and Amalia on.

"I just freaking what passed one." She silently growled although Marco heard her and sighed as the two took the available seats in the back of the bus.

As the bus drove to the school, Marco looked over and saw that Amalia still had the angry look on her face with her arms crossed as she looked out the window.

"Hey Amalia," Marco started. "We should probably go to the nurse's office when we get to school and have your eye looked at. You know, just in case- "

Amalia sighs before looking to Marco, the anger in her eyes letting up a bit.

"Thanks Marco, but I'll be fine. I just want to get to school and- huh?" Amalia said as she brought her hand up to her right ear. "Uh Marco? Do you remember the dragon earrings I usually wear?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I do. Why?" Marco asked before he looked and saw that she only had one of the earrings on.

Amalia once again groaned as she covered her face with her hand and asked the question she already knew the answer to.

"Marco, please… please tell me that in our rush to catch the bus, that I only put on one earring, please?" she asked and quietly begged that he would answer differently than what she expected.

"Umm… well," he started to say and she could already tell from the nervousness in his voice. "You actually had both earrings on… before we left to house."

Amalia didn't say anything else as she slouched in their seat and groaned the rest of the ride to school.

Once the bus reached school, everyone disembarked and went off to their desired places before classes started.

"Come on Amalia," Marco said as he and the young princess stepped off the bus. "Everyone has a bad day now and then; you just have to try make it through the rest of it is all."

"And just how do you make it through the rest of a bad day exactly?" Amalia asked, still upset.

"Well… I don't really know. Maybe try and not let- Whoaa!"

As Marco stepped off the bus, his foot caught the edge of the sidewalk causing him to fall face first.

"Marco!" Amalia said as she quickly helps her friend up. "You okay? That looked like a really bad fall you took."

"Uh yeah, it was." Marco groaned as he covered his right eye.

"Hold on, let me see," Amalia said as she moved is hand away. When she did, she saw that Marco's eye was a little swollen and blacked a bit and his left cheek had a bruise on it. While not as bad as her eye, Marco defiantly had a black eye. "Uh… well, it's not as bad as my eye, but it still looks pretty bad."

"Well, looks like the nurse isn't just going to be seeing you today." Marco said. "Come on, let's get inside and… what? Hold on, it's today!?" he said as he pulled out his phone and looked at something on it.

"What's today Marco? Why are you checking your… phone? That's what that thing is called again, right?" Amalia asked.

"Yeah, and I'm checking something out." Marco said as he looked at the calendar on his phone. "So it is today; crap I completely forgot."

"Marco, what is it? Just tell me already what today is." Amalia said starting to get a little impatient.

"It's… school picture day." Marco said.

"Wait, by school picture day, do you mean the day that students have their pictures taken?" Amalia asked to which Marco nodded his head. "You're… kidding me, right? Your school… is having its picture day… the day I have a black eye, my face looks like a Velocidrome scraped it up, and one of my earrings is missing!?"

"Smile!" a cherry girl said as she suddenly popped up in front of Marco and Amalia and took their picture before skipping off, leaving the two teens flabbergasted.

"Marco," Amalia said. "Did that just happen?"

"Yes, yes it did." Marco answered as they both covered their faces with a hand.

"Well, well. Well, if it isn't Marco Diaz and one his weirdo friends." An annoying said from behind the duo.

The two looked behind and saw Jeremy Birnbaum, a bratty, rich, and spoiled 8 yr. old kid who goes to the same karate dojo as Marco.

"Please tell me I can gut this brat like a fish today Marco, please? It'll be the one good thing that could make my day a little bit better." Amalia begged Marco.

"Not today Jeremy, and Amalia I already said you can't." Marco said as he gestured for her to follow him. Amalia groaned as she did while Jeremy followed behind them to continue his mocking.

"Well my day couldn't get any better if it wanted to." Jeremy said as he continued to follow Marco and Amalia. "I came here to give Diaz a black eye for picture day, but apparently not only was there no need for me to do it, but a loser friend of his also got a black eye too. Bonus!"

"Jeremy I said not today!" Marco said as he stomped his foot on the ground which was followed by the sound of something breaking beneath it. He and Amalia looked down and saw that he had stomped right on the skateboard that belonged to Jackie Lynn Thomas who they saw was sitting right next to them with the other half of her broken board on her foot.

"Marco," Jackie said as she picked up the other half of her board. "You broke… my skateboard."

"OOOOOOOOHH!" Jeremy said.

"Jackie I- " Marco tried to apologies before Jackie cut him off.

"It's fine Marco, I'll just live with it." Jackie said as she got ready skate away on a broken half of her board before Amalia spoke up.

"Like a Barroth covered in swamp mud your riding on that broken board." Amalia shouted getting Jackie to looked towards her. "Just hold on a second Jackie," she said as she summoned her sword in her right hand and summoned her spellbook in the other. "I think I have a repair spell in here somewhere."

"Really Amalia girl, it's cool. You don't have to do that for me." Jackie said.

"Jackie, me and Marco already had a bad start this morning. I'd sooner let a Yian Garuga peck both my eyes out before I let you have a messed up day too because your board got broken." Amalia said as she stopped on the page she was looking for. "Okay here it is," she said as she made the book disappear before. "Jackie can you place the other half of your board over here with the other, please?"

"Okay, sure." Jackie said as placed the other half of her skateboard with the other.

Amalia then held her sword up as the gem on it began to glow, then pointed it at the two pieces.

" **Hollow Winds of Restoration!"** Amalia said as mini blue and green tornado appeared around the two pieces. It soon dispersed to revel Jackie's skateboard was indeed fixed, but it looked different now. The board was now dark blue with light green strips on top and the wheels that were once orange were now white. Lastly, it had small wings on both sides of it.

"Whoa, Amalia dude, this board looks awesome." Jackie said impressed and amazed.

"Yeah, what spell was that anyway?" Marco asked.

"No clue, I just flipped through the book until I saw it and it had the word restoration in its name." Amalia said as she looked at her handy work. "I didn't expect to give your board a redo like this Jackie, but I hope you like it."

"Hmph, It's not that great." Jeremy said.

"You can whatever crap you want runt," Amalia said. "Fact of the matter is; my bad day is starting to turn. I used a new spell flawlessly and fixed/upgraded Jackie's skateboard."

"That's now flying away." Marco said.

"Exactly, that's now… What!?" Amalia said and looked up and sure enough, she saw Jackie's new board flying away into the unknown. "Oh come on! Jackie I'm so sorry about your board."

"It's cool Amalia, it was a pretty sweet looking board." Jackie said before she remembered something. "Oh yeah, I was actually going to come to you."

"Huh? How come?" Amalia asked.

"You see on my way here to school; while I was skating I felt something break underneath my front wheel." Jackie said as she went into her pocket and pulled something out. "And I kind of noticed you've only got one earring on today so…"

Jackie then unfolded her hand to show what she was holding to Marco and Amalia. Once they saw what Jackie was holding, Marco looked to his friend with glance full of sorrow and worry. While Amalia had a very dispirited look on her face as if someone had just kicked a baby Nargacuga. Sitting in Jackie's palm were the broken remains of her other earring. As Amalia looked at her shattered earring, Marco's phone started ringing.

"Uh, Hello? Sally? Okay whoa, slow down a second and calmly tell me why you… What!?" Marco shouted which got Amalia and Jackie's attention. "But how did… are you alright? Just bummed that your test failed? Well as long as your… wait, what about my room? … the whole thing?" he said as he continued to listen to what Sally said before groaning in defeat. "Okay… yeah I'll let Amalia know. It's alright, I know you didn't mean for it to happen. Okay, seen later." Marco said as he ended the call and looked back at Amalia who saw he had a very unhappy look on his face.

"What happened, Marco?" Amalia asked not really looking forward to the answer she was going to get.

"So, Sally apparently is going through a bad day herself. She just called to tell me that she was experimenting with a new spell, but something went wrong with it." Marco said.

"Which is?" "Which is that one, a majority of your stuff got destroyed. And two, there's a gaping hole in my bedroom now." Marco said to which Amalia just groaned.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh this is too much! HAHAHAHA!" Jeremy laughed holding his sides.

"Marco, can I at the very least…" Amalia started to ask.

"… So long as he doesn't get anything worse than a broken arm or leg." Marco said as Amalia promptly back kicked the laughing Jeremy with enough force to send him flying across the street into someone's garbage cans.

"I still think this day sucked." Amalia said as she and Marco walked passed Jackie and headed to the nurse's office.

* * *

 **(Flashback end)**

Back in the shed, Marco was sawing the head of the decorative skull, while Amalia was gluing the crystals she made to some makeshift helmets aka buckets. Star was helping Sally look for mare things in the shed they could use.

"I'm sorry you guys had a really bad day," Star said as she passed Sally three empty paint cans. "Especially with Amalia's earrings. But what does all that have to do with what's happening right now?"

"Hold on Star, we're just about getting to- " Marco was saying before he was interrupted by the sound of something busting through glass.

"Sally?" Amalia asked. "That wasn't – "

"The sound of Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's armies breaking through my spell just now?" Sally said. "Unfortunately, I think that's exactly what we just heard."

Suddenly a large green hand smashed through the wall of the shed causing everyone ducks their heads as it swung around looking for them. Marco quickly places the skull ornament in the arms way and when it touched it, it rips the head clean off and pulls it back through the hole it made.

"Thanks for that!" Marco shouts.

"Now they're starting to break through, Sally can you fix the hole in your spell?" Amalia asked.

"Well yeah, but I won't be able to reinforce it." Sally said. "But at the very least, it should make their attacks bounce off the part I fix."

"That's fine, just do it." Amalia said.

Sally then uses her magic to repair the hole in her spell as Marco covers the hole in the shed with a painting he found. This only made Amalia look at him with an "Are you serious," look.

"What?" "Nothing Marco," Amalia said before turning back to Star. "Okay, so where did we leave off again?"

"I believe we were at the part where you and Marco came home miserable and joined me on the couch shortly after." Sally said.

"Oh yeah, I remember that part." Star said as she and the other began to recount the event.

* * *

 **(Flashback, Diaz residence)**

In the living room of the Diaz home, Sally was sitting on the couch, feeling as if today just wanted her to be unhappy. She thought today was going to be really special with what she had planned. First, she was going to perform a special project with the sample from Marco's monster arm incident. Second, she was going to test out a new spell she found in her grimoire today. And lastly, she was going to create a new elixir formula she came up with. Today was going to be so perfect.

"Except, it didn't turn perfect at all." Sally mumbled to herself as she went over in her head what happened. "First; I accidently spilled the monster arm sample down the kitchen drain so I couldn't do the project I had planned. Second, I forgot where I put the formula for the new elixir I wanted to make. And third, the new spell I found went haywire and ended up wrecking part of Amalia's room and giving Marco's room a gaping hole. All in the form of a giant blast of orange and green slime." She recited. "Looks like I may need to practice control for that spell given the mess it made. And I don't mean just to the room as well." Sally said as she looked and examined her clothes which were covered in orange and green slime.

Sally soon heard the sound of the front door opening and looked to see Marco and Amalia walking in, both with one black eye each and similar miserable looks on their faces like her as they plopped themselves on the couch.

"So," Sally said getting the two teen's attention. "I'm guessing you two had a pretty bad day too, if the black eyes you both have is any indication?"

"You… could say that." Marco said.

"We could say the same thing about your day too Sally, given the fact that your covered head to toe in… what exactly is that stuff?" Amalia asked pointing to her friend's messy clothes.

"This unfortunately, is the result of me trying the new spell that was in my grimoire." Sally groaned. "I may have to practice a bit before I use it again, but I think we can agree that this day completely sucked."

"Yep," "Defiantly sucked." Marco and Amalia said in agreement as the three slumped further into the couch and closed their eyes to try and forget about today.

"Hey guys, why do you have your eyes closed? It not time to go to sleep yet." Star said as she leaned over from behind the couch to look at her three friends.

"Really? Cause to be honest, I'd very much welcome sleep right about now so this day can end." Sally said.

"Same here," "Ditto to that." Marco and Amalia said.

"Well okay then. But before you guys go and do that, can you open your eyes and look at what I have right now?" Star asked.

"What you have right now?" Marco asked in confusion as he, Amalia, and Sally opened their eyes.

What they see leaves them speechless as they see Star looking at them with a big smile on her face… as well as a thick black mustache and top hat on her head.

Sally instantly covers her mouth in an attempt to silence her already rising laughter while Marco and Amalia look on.

"Wha- Star, what is this? What's with the… the uh…" Amalia asked as she could feel the urge to laugh start to rise up from her belly while Sally had thrown a pillow over her face to muffle her laughter.

"Oh, the mustache and hat?" Star asked as she tugged on the mustache in a showy way. "Just trying out a new look is all. What do you guys think? Really something, huh?"

"Oh yeah, it's… it's defiantly something alright, haha." Amalia said as she had already started laughing while a small smile soon began to appear on Marco's face.

"So anyway you guys, I'd like to show guys a magic trick I just learned. And I'm going to perform this trick without the use of my wand." Star said as Amalia and Sally calmed down a bit and looked along with Marco as Star got ready. "Now as you can see, there is nothing up my sleeves."

"Uh Star, your wearing your Edgar dress. So you don't have sleeves." Marco pointed out to her.

"Good, that way you know I've got no sleeves to hide stuff." Star said as Marco rolled his eyes playfully. "Now watch carefully," she says as she takes her top hat off, "As I pull as laser puppy out of this hat."

Star then sticks her hand into the hat and says "Ta-daaa!" as she pulls out her supposed laser puppy.

"Um, Star?" Sally says. "Are laser puppies supposed to look like see through fish?"

Star looks and sees that she did in fact pull out a pink see through fish that was wriggling about.

"Huh, did I grab the wrong hat or some – "

Star got cut off when the fish suddenly swallowed her head. This caused Star to run around frantically before she fell to floor and the fish swallowed her whole.

Marco, Amalia, and Sally just looked for a couple of seconds before all three suddenly erupted into laughter with Star soon joining in as well.

* * *

 **(Flashback end)**

"I'm still curious as to how you managed to mix up a laser puppy and a see through fish." Sally said as she used her gel magic as glue to help Marco stick the crystals to some shoulder pads that Amalia found.

"Meh, just one of many mysteries about me I guess. And I did manage to make you guys feel better, right?" Star said. "Okay, that part I remember. So what else happened to got us here?"

"You then met 'Mr. Musician' and fell for him harder than a Kushala Dora's metallic skin hitting a diamond wall." Amalia said.

"Mr. who now?" Star said confusion.

"She meant Oskar, Star." Marco said. "Amalia means when you met Oskar."

* * *

 **(Flashback, Echo Creek High)**

It was around 12:45pm in the evening the next day. Amalia was wearing a white tank-top under a black vest with a zipper going up the center, black leather overhauled shorts with a long cape at the back of her waist and red and black finger-less gloves that extend to her elbows, red boots, black socks, and a metal guard on her left elbow. She was sporting her lone dragon earring today, since the other one was broken. But when she locked herself over in the mirror this morning, she thought she looked pretty cool wearing one earring with this outfit.

"Especially after Star and Marco saw me in it." She said to herself as she walked down the hall. "Star said I looked like some cool mystery fighter and Marco said I looked one of those female kung-Fu warriors from a movie he saw once. Only he said I looked both cooler and… cuter." She said scratching her cheek which she noticed felt a little warm. "Geez Marco, save those compliments for when you talk to Jack - "

Amalia then suddenly stopped what she was saying and quickly cover her ears as a horrible sound soon filled the air.

"WHAT IN ALL OF DRACLORD IS THAT HORRIBLE SOUND!?" Amalia shouted as she continued down the hall. When she got to the archway that lead to the parking lot, she saw several other students covering their ears or wailing in pain and rolling on the ground. "WHAT THE HECK!? ARE WE UNDER ATTACK OR SOMETHING!?"

Amalia then turned and saw Star standing next to her with a dreamy and captivated look in her eyes. She followed her friend's gaze and saw a boy who had brown hair that covered his eyes and was wearing a brown T-shirt, a red neckerchief, gray jeans that are torn at the bottom, and purple and white boots. He was sitting on a beaten up car playing some strange looking instrument she had never seen before. Amalia looked at the boy then back at Star.

"OH YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, STAR." Amalia shouted as she saw Star pull Principal Skeeves over to ask him about the boy. Afterwards, Star creped over and placed a sticky note with her number on the boy's instrument and slid away before jumping up and bolted home. 'Oh great,' Amalia thought as she walked after her friend.

* * *

 **(Flashback end)**

"Oskar," Star said fondly as she chewed on the top of her wand while thinking of boy while Amalia rolled her eyes.

"I still can't believe you find those… sounds he makes enjoyable. I could practically feel my ears bleeding from that god awful sound." Amalia said. But Star was too deep in her fantasy to hear her.

"I don't think she heard you Amalia." Marco said as he emptied out a bucket of red paint.

"If remember correctly, Star couldn't wait to call that boy when you two got back to the house." Sally said.

"Of course I couldn't wait!" Star said happily before also remembering something else that happened. ' _Oh right, I also got to talk with Skylar, Amalia's friend. I mean her sort of friend? I guess.'_

* * *

 **(Flashback, Diaz residence)**

Marco was sitting at the dining room table going through his phone, while Sally sat next to him with what looked like a mini chemistry lad, mixing different liquids in beakers.

"So Sally, you said you found the sample from when I had that monster arm under Star's bed. How did it get under there?" Marco asked.

"Hmm, not really sure." Sally said as she poured a green liquid into a beaker that had an orange liquid in it. "But who cares? Now I can perform the research I wanted to do!" she cheered.

"Okay, and what research is that?" Marco asked her.

"Oh, just to see if I can grow the creature that your monster arm came from." "Umm, how about we don't do that. It was bad enough having that thing as my arm, I don't even want to think about what the whole thing looks like." "Aw, party pooper." Sally said as Marco sighed and went back to his phone.

Just then Star comes running through the door with a giant smile on her face, followed by Amalia who was cleaning out her ears.

"Okay, thank the elder dragons I still have my hearing." Amalia said.

"That's great, so can I borrow your phone Amalia?" Star asked holding her hand out.

"What, why?" Amalia asked before she realized something. "I thought that was your number you gave him."

"Well I don't know if he could get calls from magic mirrors and I really wanted him to call me. So your number was to first one that popped into my head." Star said. "Plus, our ringtone just sounds awesome!"

"Well yeah, it does sound pretty cool." Amalia says as she takes her phone out and plays her ringtone.

' _ **Can't wish away the dismal days! Can't bring back what was lost. We'll waste no tears on yester years. Instead we'll carry on! We'll live for sure! We will endure and though our goal is far. We'll be the voice and touch the sun and triumph will be ours!'**_

"I swear I'll never get tired of hearing that song, now that's my kind of music." Amalia said.

"I know, so please can use your phone? Pleassssseeee?" Star begged as she got on her knees in front of Amalia.

Amalia saw the pleading look in Star's eyes very hard to ignore, plus she could think of a number of times she's asked Star for favors since they met. With a heavy sigh, Amalia looks Star.

"First, stand up Star." Amalia asked as Star gets back up on her feet. "… here," she said as she places her phone in Star's hand. "This is a one-time thing, okay? After this you find some other way to call him."

"Thank you! Thank you! So much, Amalia!" Star cheered happily as she hugged her friend tightly before letting her go and darting up stairs to her room.

"Okay, what was all that about?" Marco asked.

"Oh, Star gave her number aka my number to this Oscar guy at school, so she's waiting for him to call her." Amalia said.

"Oskar? As in Oskar Greason?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, apparently he's supposed to be an up and coming musician. But whatever that strange thing he uses as an instrument is, it sounds like something getting ground up and dyeing in a hurricane of pain and misery." Amalia said.

"You mean his keytar, right?" Marco said.

"His what now?" Amalia asked confused.

"Keytar, it's like a piano you carry around like a guitar." Marco explained. "Oh, so that's what that is. Well he still sounds bad either way." Amalia said. "I don't see how Star can be interested in someone who plays like he was broken fingers."

"Hmm, maybe she finds it appealing due to her mewman nature." Sally said which confused the two teens. "What I mean is that maybe mewmans like Star pensive things differently than other species."

"So your saying that while me, Marco, and everyone else at school think Oskar's music playing is terrible, Star likes it because she's from a different dimension. Is that what you mean Sally?" Amalia asked. "Cause if so; … that makes no sense at all!"

"Mm, science doesn't often make sense at first, just give it time." Sally said as she went back to her tests.

"I don't think I'll ever understand science," Amalia said. "At least it's my ringtone I'll hear and not Marco's."

"Hey! What's wrong with my ringtone?" Marco asked.

"Space unicorn! Sorrowing through the skies? Do I even need to say anymore?" Amalia said.

"It's supposed to be ironic." Marco said.

"Ironically terrible," Amalia said grinning as Marco just groaned.

Upstairs, Star rushed into her and Amalia's room, placed the phone on the desk, then sat and waited for Oskar's call. Star waited, and waited, and waited. Until,

" _ **Can't wish away the dismal days! Can't bring – "**_

"Hello!?" Star said hoping to hear Oskar on the other end.

"U-um… hello? A-Amalia?" A timid and nervous sounding girl's voice said.

"Oh, you're not Oskar," Star said in disappointment and was about to hang up before the girl on the other end spoke up.

"W-wait, Oskar? Amalia were you expecting someone else? Oh… of course you were, I guess you wouldn't want to talk to me after all this time. Sorry,"

When Star heard how sad the girl sounded, she pulled her thumb away from the call end button and spoke before she could hang up.

"Wait a minute! I'm not Amalia, I'm one of her friends. Sorry I sounded like that before, see I'm using Amalia's phone because I'm expecting a call from someone." Star said.

"Wait, so this isn't Amalia I'm speaking to?" the girl asked. "Then who is this? Did I dial the wrong number?"

"Uh… no. my names Star, and like I said I'm using Amalia's phone because someone is going to be calling me. I didn't know Amalia was expecting a call from someone too." Star said.

"She wasn't, I… I actually haven't talked with Amalia for a while. But I heard she left Draclord and went to a dimension called earth, I think?" She asked uncertain.

"Ooooh, so you must be one of her friends from Draclord, right?" Star asked getting a little excited.

"Well… kind of. So are you one of Amalia's new earth friends then?"

"Oh no, I'm not from earth. I'm a princess from Mewni, I got sent to earth like Amalia did after a little… accident." Star said laughing a little.

"Mewni? I think I've heard of the dimension before, and I think I also know someone from there." The girl said.

"Really? I bet they told you how amazing Mewni is, huh?" Star said.

"Well they haven't told me anything overly interesting about Mewni, but they did say they were trying to get back together with someone from there they use to go out with."

"Oh brother, sounds like your hanging out with someone who doesn't know when to let go. Trust me I've been with someone like that, not fun." Star said which made the girl laugh a little.

"Well I have to getting going now, I promised another friend of mine I'd meet them soon. Plus, I don't want to be the reason you missed your call." The girl said.

"Oh don't worry, if my call was coming Amalia's phone would have told you by now. So no worries there." Star said. "It was nice to get to talk to another of Amalia's friends from her dimension. Oh wait, could you tell your name? and should I tell Amalia you called so she can call you back later?"

There were a few seconds of silence before Star heard the girl's voice again.

"I'll tell you my name, but… could not tell Mali… that I called?"

"Huh? Why not?" Star asked confused. "If you and Amalia are friends and you haven't talked in a while, I would think that you and her – "

"It's… complicated right now." The girl said. "Just please promise?"

"Well… okay then, I won't tell her." Star said. "So can you please tell me your name now?"

"Okay. My name is Skylar, Skylar Atmósphera. I'm the princess of Meterolia." The girl now known as Skylar said.

"Skylar huh, nice to meet you." Star said.

"Likewise. Anyway, I should be going now. Remember your promise and I hope your call comes soon." Skylar said.

"Thanks and don't worry I won't Amalia. Buh-bye." Star said as she ended the call and placed the phone back on her desk in front of her. "Well it wasn't the call from Oskar I was expecting, but getting the chance to talk to another of Amalia's friends for her home kind of makes me glad I used her number now." Star said. "But I wonder why she didn't want Amalia to know she called? Hmm…"

* * *

 **(Flashback end)**

"So aside from the call that came earlier that was just some random call and not someone Amalia knows or may not know," Star said trying to not sound like she knew more than knows as Sally placed a makeshift mask on her, "Oskar never called. I guess I'm just not cool enough for a guy with a record." She said sadly.

"Untrue," Sally said.

"Bull crap!" "Star are kidding us? You're the coolest person we know." Amalia and Marco said which made Star feel better as Marco duck taped buckets to her feet and Amalia duck taped crystals to her elbows. "Yeah, your just as cool as a Barioth flying through a snow storm back on Draclord." Amalia said.

The shed was soon rocked again as Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's armies once again rammed against it, causing Star and Sally to fall on Marco and Amalia. As well as make everything else in the shed fall over.

"Anyway," Amalia said as she sat up next to Star. "We saw how sad you were. So we thought it was our turn to cheer you up."

* * *

 **(Flashback)**

Amalia, Marco, and Sally stood outside the bed and saw Star laying in her bed with her face in a pillow. Amalia ushered the two away from the doorway to talk.

"Guys, Star looks really upset that Oskar hasn't called yet, I'm starting to worry about her." Marco said.

"Okay, I know what I'm doing when I see that Oskar guy again." Amalia said as she cracked her knuckles.

"You're not breaking Oskar's legs Amalia." Marco said.

"What? I wasn't going to break his legs, Marco." "Oh," "I was going to break his stupid keytar, then use that to break his jaw." Amalia said as Marco groaned and shook his head. "You can't do that either." "Ugh, fine."

"Okay you two," Sally said. "Instead of finding ways to hurt this Oskar guy, let's focus on how to make Star feel better."

"Your right Sally," Marco said agreeing. "I prefer to see Star smiling than seeing her sad and down." Amalia said in agreement as well. "So does anyone have any ideas no how to make her happy?"

"As a matter of fact I think I've got one that will work." Sally said as she pulled out her grimoire and walked back over near the bedroom.

"Why am I getting a bad feeling in my gut about what Sally plans to do right now?" Amalia asked.

But before Marco could even respond, they both heard the sound of Star screaming in terror and Sally running out of the room with a giant bear looking creature made from her gel magic close behind her.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Sally frantically said as she and the creature ran back to Amalia and Marco. "Okay, so my plan didn't work."

"You think? Sally what exactly did you do? And what is this thing?" Marco asked as he hide behind Amalia.

"Well I figured that maybe hugging something cuddly would make Star feel better. So I used my gel magic to create this big guy here." Sally said pointing to the creature behind her. "But Star just started screaming the moment she saw it. I wonder why though?"

"Sally," Amalia started as she placed a hand on her face and shook her head. "In what world would an Arzuros be considered cuddly!? Look at it!?"

Sally looked back at her creation and noticed it had turquoise colored fur, elongated, red claws, tough hide and a mouth of sharp teeth with its tongue hanging out.

"Ooooh, I thought there was something off about it." Sally said as Marco and Amalia sighed.

"Alright, what else can we try?" Marco said thinking.

"I've got an idea," Amalia said as her sword appeared strapped to her back in a blue flash and smiled knowingly. "But first we'll need Star's wand and a fishing pole."

A few minutes later, Amalia and Sally are standing in the front yard waiting for Marco to join them. They soon see the hoodie clad boy running up to them with Star's wand tied to the fishing pole.

"You made sure Star didn't see you, right Marco?" Amalia asked.

"Yeah, so now can you tell us what your idea is already?" Marco asked.

"As we've all seen already, Star's at her happiest when she rainbow fists a monster in the face, right?" Amalia asked and got nods from Sally and Marco. "So we use Star's wand to lure a monster here, call her down to fight and boom. She instantly feels better." She concludes confidently.

"Amalia," Marco says. "That plan sounds… amazing. That's sure to cheer Star up in no time." He said completely on board.

"Of course, why didn't I think of that? It's so simple." Sally said.

"I know, I know, I'm brilliant." Amalia said as she drew her sword and sliced open a portal. "Now Marco, would do the honors?"

"Wait, shouldn't we check to make sure there's at least a monster there to lure?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, good point." Sally said as she walked over and stuck her head through the portal. After a couple of seconds, she pulled her head back out. "Good news that two headed monster from Ludo's army and three of Ba'Gamnan's guys are on the other side."

"That's perfect, Marco your up." Amalia said.

"Aye Aye, Capitan." Marco said jokingly as he threw the wand into the portal. A few seconds later, all four goons came rushing out as Marco reeled the wand out.

"Hey Star, come one out for a second, please?" Amalia shouted. She soon heard multiple thuds and felt the ground shake. "Whoa, what the heck was – "

Amalia turned her head and saw Marco and Sally with shocked looks on their faces as the rest of Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's armies came out of the portal.

"Uh Amalia? I think your plan worked a bit too well." Marco said.

"... Crud."Amalia muttered.

* * *

 **(Flashback end)**

"So you guys brought these monsters here to cheer me up?" Star asked.

"Yessss?" Marco said laughing nervously as he placed a welding mask on his face.

"We just didn't think so many of them would swarm out of the portal." Amalia said as she placed bucket helmets on her and Star's heads. "But hey, we've got armor… sort of. And they still haven't broken through Sally's spell yet."

As soon as she said that the roof of the shed is blasted off along with the top of Sally's hardened gel dome by a searing hot beam of fire.

"Me and my big mouth."

Marco was soon grabbed by the large green hand from before and pulled out of the shed.

"Marco!" "Crap! Hold on Marco!" Star and Amalia yelled ditching their makeshift armor and jumping out of the shed with Sally doing the same.

As soon as they were in the air however, they saw the same fiery beam coming right at them.

"Crap! **Coiling** **Crystal Cocoon!** " Amalia shouted as a sphere made of crystals formed around them as the beam hit, protecting them. It then disappeared as the three landed in the middle of both armies where they saw Marco being held by a giant man crocodile monster with Ludo standing close by.

"Give it up Star Butterfly," Ludo sneered. "You and your little friends are out matched!"

"Ludo what's with all these new monsters?" "Yeah, I don't remember seeing any of these guys before." Star and Amalia said.

"What!? These are the same ones I always bring."

"Mm, I'm not too sure." "Same here." They both said.

"You mean you all have never met man arm?" Ludo asked pointing to the monster that was currently holding Marco.

"Hey," he said waving with a much smaller.

"Whoa, how did we miss that?" Amalia asked.

"Surely you've all met Spikeballs, huh?" Ludo asked indicating to the large muscular creature with bluish-gray skin and large spiked maces for hands.

"Well we were never formally introduced," he said walking over to Marco and shaking hands/maces with him. "Hi, I'm Spikeballs. I'm usually in the back."

"Okay, then which one you guys shot that giant heat beam at us?" Sally asked.

"That would be this big fella's doing," Ba'Gamnan said as he walked up with Gijuk, while Bwagi and Rinok were followed by a large, creature covered with a dense, stone-like armored shell, wings and a thick tail with a mace-like club at the end that towered over them.

"Great, that's just great." Amalia said. "Now he has a freaking Gravios."

"Another Wyvern?" Star asked.

"Yep, and this one lives in volcanos and shoots lava beams."

"Alright, now that everyone's said what they wanted to say," Ludo said as he and Ba'Gamnan exchanged glances.

"Get the wand/sword!" they yelled as their goons charged at the three girls.

"Sally! Get Marco free while me and Amalia handle these guys!" Star shouted and started blasting left and right.

Sally then shot a magic blast at Man Arm forcing him to release Marco.

"Thanks!" "No problem!" the two then proceed to fight both armies with the two princesses with a combination of spell blast, karate moves and sword strikes.

" **Honeybee Tornado Swarm!" "Electric Eel Twister Snare!"** Star and Amalia shouted as majority of the both armies were sucked into a giant tornado filled with honeybees and electric eels that stung or shocked them.

"So this making you feel any better, Star?" Amalia asked as she jumped kicked two of Ludo's monsters then smacked four of Ba'Gamnan's goons with the flat side of her sword.

"It total is! I'm having the time of my life here!" Star said excitedly as she blasted five of Ba'Gamnan's guys. "I don't even care if Oskar's call now."

Just then then, Amalia's phone goes off.

' _ **Can't wish away the dismal days! Can't bring back what was lost. We'll waste no tears on yester years. Instead we'll carry**_ **on!'**

"Oh, what is that amazing ringtone?" Ludo asked.

Amalia smirked at Marco who just rolled his eyes and muttered "Shut it" as Star checked to see who was calling. When she saw the number, she gasped in surprise and happiness.

"It's Oskar!" she shouted happily.

"Oh, so he did call." Sally said as she trapped a couple of Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's guys in gel bubbles.

"Well… aren't you going to answer it?" Marco asked as punched a green skinned Bagnaa in the snout.

"Oh right, right!" Star said as she answered the call and Amalia rolled her eyes in silent annoyance. "Hello?"

"Uh Hi." Oskar said. "I'm calling this phone number on my phone." He said.

"Thank you for calling!" Star said.

"Could he not play that keytar while he talks?" Amalia said/complained.

"Amalia! Come on, I'm talking to Oskar here. And how can you even here if he's playing right now?" Star shot back.

"Because you have the darn phone on speaker – "

Amalia is then cut off as one of Ludo's monsters just roared right next to Star and her. That was the last straw for the Princess of Bahamut's patience.

"… Star?" Amalia said looking to her with a very sweet but also very scary smile on her face. "Could you stand waaaay over there and tell Oskar to wait a moment, please?"

"Umm… yeah sure." Star said a little freighted at the smile on Amalia's face right now. "Hey Oskar, could wait hold on for like one second?" Star then quickly ran far away knowing whatever Amalia was going to do would be very big and very, very scary.

Amalia then turned around and looked at the armies with that scary smile still on her face.

"My friend… was waiting for that call… all day today," she said. "And then one of you idiots just roared... right up… in front of her while she is having said call. Which is very, very rude." She said and begun tapping the tip of her sword into the ground while the gem on it started to glow brighter and brighter. "You want to know what I do to rude people, … Hm? Hm? I… do… THIS! **NEVERENDING NIGHTMARE TYPHOON!** "

Amalia then slams the blade of her sword into the ground, summoning a storm of the scariest things across every plain of existence within the multiverse from giant spiders and headless horseman to undead Rathalos and cranky grandparents with whole thing ending in an explosion with an evil looking face on the mushroom cloud. After the explosion, every last one of Ludo or Ba'Gamnan's troops were either cowering in fear at what they saw or were lucky and passed out.

"What… was?" Marco stuttered out in terror as Sally undid the protection spell she cast on them.

"Yeah, that's what happens when Amalia decides to get scary on people. And if you thought that was bad, you don't want to see what happens when she gets really mad." Sally said. "She really is just like her mom."

"Hey, I take offence to that Sally," Amalia said as she pulled her sword out of the ground and placed it in the sheath on her back. "My mom is twenty times scarier than me."

"Hmm, if you say so miss Scary." Sally said jokingly as Amalia rolled her eyes sat her.

"Hey Star, you can come back over now." Amalia shouted.

Star pocked her head from behind one of Ludo's large monsters and walked back over to her friends with a stunned look on her face.

"This is what happens when you…" Star asked.

"Mm-hm," Amalia said nodding her head.

"And your mom… can do worst… than this?" she asked again.

"Yep," Amalia answered again to Star's utter shock.

"Uh… remind me not to do anything that will make you do… this, please?" "Hmm… no promise." Amalia said. "So is Oskar still on the phone?"

"Oh right! Oskar!" Star remembered he was still waiting. She calmed herself and spoke. "Hey Oskar, sorry about that."

"it's cool," he simply said.

"Cool," Star said and the two didn't say anything for a bit. "Okay, bye." She said and ended the call with a dreamy look in her eyes. She then noticed the still body of the Gravios not too far from them. "Um Amalia? I think that wyvern's… dead."

"Really? Hold on," Amalia as she walked over to the creature. She lightly tapped her foot on it and saw it twitch. "It's alive just passed out like the rest." She said and walked back as the others let out breaths of relief.

"Anyway, Thanks guys. You really did know how to cheer me up. And Oskar called anyway! Hugs!" Star said as she brought her friends in for a big hug as they all reciprocated.

They then all felt a couple extra pairs of arms around them, but the only difference was there was a lacking of skin on them. They all looked and saw four walking skeletons had joined in. The three then looked to Amalia who sighed.

"Alright, my idea, my mess. I'll clean it up."

* * *

 **A/N: And done! Man, that was an ordeal. Sorry for the wait you guys but here it is. You all get two chapters in one upload. You luck dogs, you get two chapters, one introducing one of Amalia's friends each. Skylar's appearance is one of many to come so keep a look out for her and the rest of Amalia's friends. Okay, I need a break now. See Ya! ;)**


	11. Chapter 11: Quest Buy and Wall-mart

**Hi everyone, it's M &BFDIB back for chapter 11! Which is… you guessed it! "Quest Buy!" The twist: Amalia needs a charger too, and she has to go to a different store. This is another two-in-one! That'll be our new pattern from now on, I think. Okay, I already have a ridiculously long A/N at the bottom so let's get reviews responded to and the story started!**

 _ **Guest (I'm just gonna address all the guest reviews collectively): Okay, for the chapter 9 review, the semicolons were used correctly; it was just a confusing sentence. The semicolons separated each item: [a sword, Amalia's]; [a spear, Opa's]. Regardless, I fixed it to be less confusing.I also made a super critical mistake in that same sentence: Justin! So, Justin doesn't actually exist; that was Palmero's original name. I just thought,**_ **Hey, it would be cool to give the prince of the fifth realm a more normal name like Amalia!** _ **And then I realized how stupid that was. So it's Palmero now, and I'll be sending the fixed doc to Keyblade so that he can repost chapter 9. As for when he'll appear, I can't say.**_

 _ **Also, Cressa's house! So, the roof reaches about 2-3 feet above the sea floor, but it also extends about 4 feet underground. The door was in a depression dug out to make it level with the house, which, again, is mostly underground. Sorry about that. Honestly, this chapter will probably be just as confusing, if not more. Just go with it and let your imagination run wild! :)**_

 **And finally, I'll bring up chapter updates. Like a said, the double-chapter update will probably be the new norm now. As for the time between updates, I can't say. And, considering most of the people asking are guests, we can't PM you either. So, if you really want to know when the next chapter is coming, I usually have an estimation of when my next chapter will be finished. But be warned: I am very unreliable. Alright, enough talk, let's get to it.**

 **Also, just for reference, this is how my headers work, at least for this chapter:**

 _Specific location, City or Store, Dimension_

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Quest Buy and Wall-mart**

* * *

 _Diaz Residence, Echo Creek, Earth Dimension_

The decadent smell of cooking nachos filled the room as Amalia, Marco, and Star were piled up on the couch together, watching a movie.

"Hmmm," Marco murmured. "The nachos are probably done."

"Wait!" Amalia stopped him. "Let's try… _Icy Oven Turn-Off Blast_!"

"No!" Marco shouted in fear. But after a moment of nothing happening, he calmed. "Oh. You didn't blow up the house. That's good."

Amalia frowned. "Glad you have faith in me," she deadpanned. Then she continued, "But I don't think I turned off the oven either. Or did anything." She tried shaking her sword a bit, like when a pen is low on ink, and repeated the improvised spell, but nothing happened. Amalia popped out a compartment in the handle and looked inside at a gauge. "Ah. Looks like I need to recharge it."

Star shrugged. "I'll try. _Icy Oven Turn-Off Blast!_ " But again, nothing happened. "Uh oh." She looked at her wand, too, and noticed the same thing as Amalia. "Mine needs recharging too."

"Well, then maybe we could watch the movie _without_ magic," quipped Marco, getting up to get the nachos himself.

"But if the charge runs down to the skull, I'll lose it forever!" both princesses shouted.

"Oh. Okay, so we have to do it now, then."

"Yes," they both replied.

"So where do we get these chargers?"

"Well, mine should be in our room somewhere…"

"Oh, funny thing." Amalia faked a nervous laugh. "I lost them."

"Both of them?!"

Amalia cringed. "Both of them. Well, kinda. I lost mine, so I tried using yours, just to see if it would work, ya know. But, it… erm… I broke it."

Before Star could respond, Marco interrupted, "Well… where can we get a new one?"

"Mine's gotta be at Quest Buy," Star answered.

"Ah. They don't have sword chargers there, though. I get mine at Wall-Mart."

Star and Amalia cut portals to their respective stores, shouting, "Let's go, Marco!" They each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him in the opposite direction, producing a yelp from Marco.

"Hey, hey, there's only one of me!"

Star tugged on his left arm. "But I need you to help me find the charger! Quest Buy is a literal maze!"

Amalia tugged back on his right arm. "Wall-Mart is literally named for being a labyrinth of walls!"

"Okay…" said Marco, trying to find a way out of this. "Why doesn't one of you go get Sally to help you?"

"She said not to bother her," said Star. "She was doing some experiment-thing."

"Yeah, do you want _another_ hole in your bedroom, Marco?" agreed Amalia.

"Fine. I'll just go back and forth. And we'll flip a coin to see where I start." Amalia and Star looked at him, waiting. "My arms, please?"

"Oh, right," Amalia said, dropping Marco's left arm.

"Oops!" Star dropped his right arm.

Marco fished a coin out of his pocket. "Okay, heads I go with Star, tails I go with Amalia." He flipped the coin, and it landed on the table. "Tails!"

Amalia frowned, peering at the image of the Lincoln Memorial in relief on the coin. "How is that tails?"

He flipped the coin over. "Well, see, there is a head on this side, and what's the opposite side of the head on… say, a Rathalos? A tail, right? So they call it tails."

Amalia frowned. "But that's a human head. Humans don't have tails. Right?"

Marco sighed. "I'm trying, all right? Okay, Star, if you need me, just make a portal or whatever."

"Gotcha." She jumped through her portal.

"Here we go!" shouted Amalia, pulling Marco inside with her.

* * *

 _Home Appliances and Décor Department, Wall-Mart, Super-Mart Dimension,_

They hopped out of the portal. Amalia was sure to stop herself, but Marco barrelled onward, smacking face first into a shelving unit lined with magical toasters that retracted into the floor moments after he crashed into it, causing him to fall face-first to the floor. Cringing, Amalia helped him up. "The store is an ever-changing labyrinth," she explained. "The walls continuously rise up into place and fall. You have to watch out for these gaps in the floor." She pointed at where the toaster display had sunk into the floor. There was a gap about three feet wide in the flooring. The gap was filled by the white metal top of the toaster display.

"So it's safe to cross now?" asked Marco.

"Probably."

Marco shrugged, stepping into the top of the display. He was about to cross it when, suddenly, the wall shot up with him still atop it, leaving him stranded about eight feet in the air. "Ahhhh," he shouted. "I thought you said it was safe to cross!"

Amalia gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry. They usually rise and fall every ten seconds, give or take. That one must've been take."

About seven seconds later, Marco was lowered back down. He gingerly hopped to the other side. Amalia strolled across casually, the wall shooting up behind her just as she passed.

They found themselves surrounded by four walls, the toasters behind them, an assortment of enchanted cutlery in front of them, an entire section of hanging cauldron ladles on the right, and a bunch of pots and pans on their left, clanging together because of their sudden ascent.

"So we're in the Kitchen Appliances Section," Amalia concluded.

"How do we get to the... erm… Magical Sword Charger Section?"

Amalia grabbed Marco by the wrist and pulled him to the left as the pots and pans retracted back into the floor, clashing and banging. "They'd be in the Magical Weapons Department, which would be… um…." She stopped and held a finger to her chin in thought. Marco wasn't so quick to stop and ran smack into a large aluminum refrigerator. The freezer door the bottom swung open of its own accord, causing Marco to double over in pain just as a mini fridge from a higher shelf fell down and nearly crushed him. "Well, that depends, doesn't it?" Amalia continued, oblivious to Marco's struggles.

"What do you mean it depends?" Marco groaned.

"Well every now and then, the Magical Weapons Department ups and moves over to a different place in the store. The whole thing will just sink into the ground and trade places with another department. Usually the Gardening Department or the Eagle Department. Usually."

"The Eagle Department?"

Amalia shrugged. "They have everything here. Except wand chargers," she added.

"So it's in one of three places, then."

"Probably," inserted Amalia.

"Do you know where these three places are?"

Amalia began walking again. "Hmm… the nearest one is in that direction," she pointed. "About a quarter mile or so."

Marco's face fell visibly. "A quarter mile? That's a quarter mile of me running into toasters and refrigerators!"

"Clocks too, I'd imagine. We're approaching that section."

Amalia and Marco traversed another gap in the floor, the latter miraculously unscathed, and ended up in a large room filled from floor to ceiling with clocks of all forms and sizes.

"Duck!" Amalia shouted.

Marco complied hurriedly, just avoiding a giant grandfather-clock pendulum swinging straight through where his head had been. He looked up to see where it hung from, but it stretched so high that it was lost in the distance. Strangely, he didn't remember seeing it when he was in the kitchen area. "That seems safe," he grumbled, quickly moving himself out of its path before it came back again. "So which wall are we looking to cross?"

"Oh, the walls in the clock section don't move."

"Then we'd better go back before we're—" He was cut off by the wall behind them surging into place. It showed no sign of going back down. "So how do we get out, exactly?"

"Ride the pendulum, of course!" She stepped into the trajectory of the giant brass bulb. "You just got get the timing right and…" she hopped onto the thin side of the bulb as it swung toward her, riding it up to its peak and leaping off to the top of one of the walls. "C'mon, try it!"

Marco frowned, his safe-kid self returning, Amalia frealized.

"You can do it! I'll be ready to catch you if you fall!"

He didn't seem to be reassured by that but hesitantly approached the spot where the pendulum would swing through nevertheless. As it swung toward him, he cringed, squeezing his eyes shut as he leapt at the pendulum, flailing. Body and brass collided. Marco didn't actually get a grip on the pendulum; it simply smacked into him straight down the middle of his body. Amalia cringed, remembering a particularly sensitive body part located down the center of the body. Meanwhile, Marco slid down the pendulum until the round bulb caught him. As it swung toward Amalia, it flung him off. Amalia reached her arms out and caught him, just barely managing to keep her footing and prevent them from toppling to the floor nine feet below.

"I am _never_ doing that again," groaned Marco as Amalia gingerly set him on his feet.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to stay away from the clock section. That looked painful."

"It was. Now how do we get down?"

"Look!" Amalia pointed over the edge of the shelf they stood on. Ladders on display ran from nearly the ground to about up to where they were. "You just gotta be careful." She toed one of the ladders and began to clamber down it.

"Wait," Marco called, causing her to stop.

"What is it?"

"Just an idea. See, once we go back down, it'll become a crazy labyrinth again, right?"

"Right," she confirmed from below.

"Then what if we just stay up here? On top. Then we won't have any walls in our way."

Amalia thought about it for a moment and clambered back up. "Marco, you're a genius!" She gave him a quick hug, blushing just a little as she broke away. Probably not even enough to notice. Probably.

All of a sudden, one of Star's portals opened up. The first thing to come through was Star's shout of "Marco! I need your help!" Then came Star's arm, which patted around Marco's body until she found his arm and grabbed it, yanking him inside.

"ThanksforthehelpMarco!" Amalia shouted quickly before he disappeared, the portal closing behind her.

She felt strangely lonely in his absence. She stood there for a moment then shook it off, continuing toward the possible location of the Magical Weapons Department.

She made it there in record time using Marco's technique, running along the walls, waiting until an adjacent wall rose up, and continuing along the newly-formed path. She fell only once, but luckily the shelf just below her, sporting black cauldrons, had jutted out, causing her to land safely in one of the larger cauldrons. She had become stuck, and the shelf had begun to retract into the ground. She had waited in the cauldron in the darkness beneath the floor for a few seconds, which was pretty claustrophobic and scary, but once the floor rose again, she managed to wriggle out of the cauldron, climb back out, and continue on her way.

Unfortunately, as she approached, she found nothing but eagles: eagle food; eagle taxidermy; little terrariums for a rare species of dwarf eagle native to some territory of the Eagalia dimension; a giant, thirty-foot tall terrarium for normal-sized eagles with full-sized trees inside; and even the Philadelphia Eagles—Marco had mentioned something about them. She was most definitely in the Eagle Department.

The next possible location was pretty close, just through the jewelry department. She skipped across the tops of the shelves as they continued to rise and fall, now a bit more confident in her balance. She was about halfway to her destination-in the necklace section-when she spotted something in her peripheral vision that made her jump.

No, it couldn't be!

But it was. Two girls her age. One was an excited girl with sky-blue hair that seemed to blow in the breeze and crackle with energy even though they were indoors. She had a bounce in each step, almost making it look like she was skipping. As she chatted—too far away for Amalia to make out the words—her voice rose excitedly at certain parts, and she flourished wildly. The most prominent things about her were her huge smile and the magical lightning bolt she held in her left hand. She was Skylar Atmósphera, Princess of Meterolia, Realm of the Bolt.

The other was only half paying attention to her friend as she examined the expensive necklaces encrusted with precious stones, none of them seeming to meet her standards. She muttered something to Kylar, her tone dripping with dissatisfaction. She had a pale, slender face and an equally slender frame. Her hair, painstakingly cut and straightened, was of an off-white color, with a streak of dark purple that matched her eyes. She wore a pristine white dress with lace at the cuffs and the hem. It featured a purple diamond on her chest. Her body was adorned from head to toe in priceless jewels, and she clutched an equally adorned spear. She was Opaline Bijou, Princess of Gemnia, Realm of the Spear. Both girls used to be her friends. Neither were now. And one of them was her mutual sworn enemy. I'll let you guess which.

Opa's gaze was fixated on the extensive rows of necklaces, but Kylar's gaze wandered. Fearing that it might wander to her, Amalia began to quietly creep her way over to behind a large cardboard gem on the top of the shelf that signified the jewelry department.

Just before she reached her hiding place, Kylar turned, her eyes widening as they met Amalia's. Amalia gulped, hard.

* * *

 _Unknown location, Quest Buy, Quest Buy Dimension_

Marco stumbled through the portal into Quest Buy, narrowly avoiding smacking into Star. He quickly surveyed this new magical store. There were no moving walls, at least. But Marco soon realized the problem with this store: children's toys were stuffed in right next to vials of poisonous gas, right next go magical bread loaves. The store was hopelessly disorganized.

"So... what's the problem?"

"Shh!" Star whispered. "Ludo and company. Around the corner.

"Well, we can take them, right?"

Star whispered " _Narwhal Blast_ ," and only a tiny little stream of water came out, landing on the floor in a tiny puddle.

"Oh, right."

"My spells barely work, and I can't create any new spells. That's why _Icy Oven Turn-Off Blast_ didn't work at all."

"Wait! Star, we never turned off the oven!"

"Oh. Well, we've got bigger problems." She pointed to where Ludo and his army had just spotted them.

"Star Butterfly, give me that wand!" he screeched.

Star flashed one of her signature playful smiles. "You'll have to fight us for it!"

"CHARGE!" Ludo shouted, and the monsters swarmed forward.

As one approached Star, she breathed a silent prayer for her wand to work and shouted at the top of her lungs, " _Super-Ultra Narwhal Blast!"_

To her dismay, the spell sent but a splash of water landing on the monster's face, and a few tiny narwhals were visible flopping around. He simply wiped his face and kept coming. She threw everything she had at the monster, but nothing stalled him for more than a second or two, and every spell she cast accelerated the power bar's descent toward the skull. Just as the scaly monster was almost upon her, Marco jumped out from nowhere, jump-kicking the creature in the face.

Star watched in a sort of shocked awe as Marco took out all the monsters around her. He stopped, breathing heavily, and looked back at her. "You… uh… gonna help?"

Star closed her mouth—had it been open?—and shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Yeah, yeah!"

They then engaged in a fistfight, Marco pulling most of the weight, but Star managed to land a few nice kicks (it was a lot like kicking doors open). Strangely, when she shouted her magic incantations, her kicks seem to hit a bit more strongly. She did remember Glossaryck mentioning something about using magic without a wand once " _Icy Ice Cream Blast!_ " she shouted as she kicked another monster in the gut. Her leg felt a bit cold, but otherwise the spell had done nothing. "Hmmm. _Rainbow Rocket Punch!_ " she shouted, and this kick felt slightly more powerful than the last. "Alright, brawling and strength spells it is."

She leapt around, landing kicks wherever she could and shouting spells with all the force she could. All of a sudden, she began to feel woozy. She stumbled her way over to Marco. "MArCoOOo, I dOn'T FeEL so gOod," she slurred as the world began to spin around her. She felt Marco groping for her scissors, and the last thing she saw before everything blurred into black was a swirling blue portal.

* * *

 _Some other location, Quest Buy, Quest Buy Dimension_

Breathing heavily, Marco set the unconscious Star onto the floor. Well not the floor, actually; they were on the top of one of the shelves, just like he and Amalia had been at Wall-Mart. Marco gulped as he looked over the edge to see that they were at least sixty feet in the air. It was a good thing he'd had good aim. He turned back around when he heard Star stirring. She began to roll toward the edge. Marco gasped and rushed to halt her movement, but as soon as he touched her, she jolted awake, startling both of them. Marco lost his balance, tripped over Star, and toppled over the edge. His foot had caught in the strap of Star's yellow star-shaped bag, and he dragged Star over the edge with him. He, naturally, began flailing and screaming at the top of his lungs. Star simply yawned, snatching the dimensional scissors from Marco, turning herself vertical to fall faster, and cutting a portal open right below them. For a flash, they were in some unknown dimension before Star made another portal, which they followed back onto their ledge in Quest Buy. Star, as if nothing had happened, yawned again and stretched her arms. "Ugh, what time is it?"

"You were only out for about five minutes. You came around pretty quick."

"Oh. Thanks."

Marco frowned. "Huh?"

They were interrupted by a shout from below, undoubtedly Ludo. "This stupid wand! It doesn't even work!" Marco gasped. The wand! Had it fallen from Star's hand when she had fallen unconscious, or- "Blast this thing! Hey you! Throw this thing as far as you can! It deserves it!"

Suddenly, the wand appeared out of nowhere, hitting Star straight in the head. Marco dove for it, just catching it before it skittered off the edge. But when he looked back at Star, her head was slumped, knocked out yet again.

"Aw nachos—"

And then came a shout of "Finally!" and he was pulled through yet another portal, dropping the wand.

* * *

 _Jewelry Department, Wall-Mart, Super-Mart Dimension_

Amalia and Kylar stared at each other in surprise. The latter broke into a grin and began "Am—"

Amalia frantically shook her head and crossed her throat with her hand in the _cut it out_ gesture.

Kylar's face fell, but she played along. "Ammmmm… how about this one, Opa?" She pointed to one of the necklaces.

"Eh. Too… _dull_ ," was Opaline's response.

Amalia dove into her hiding place behind the cardboard gemstone silently. Then she, just as silently, cut a portal to Marco's location and snatched him out. With her magic depleted, it was a bit difficult to get the right position, so it took her a few tries. "Sh!" she whispered as he came through.

He nodded back, crouching next to her.

"Hope it wasn't a bad time."

"No, not really. Star's unconscious, though."

Amalia nodded back, solemn but unsurprised. "Is she in a secure location?"

"Secure as it gets."

"She should be fine, then."

"We had Ludo's army back at Quest Buy. Is Ba'Gamnan here?"

Amalia cringed. "Worse. Look."

Marco peeked around and cringed just as deeply. "Is that Opa? And Kylar?"

"Yep. Skylar saw me, but she's keeping quiet. Opaline is unaware of my presence. Neither of them know about you, of course. Do you think you could distract them while I sneak across?"

"Sure. I can just—"

His breath was taken from him as the wall they were crouched on suddenly plummeted, and he barely managed to stifle a shout as they plummeted to ground level, still covered by the cardboard.

"Now's your chance! Go go go!"

Marco stumbled out awkwardly. "Oh, erm, hi there! What's your name?"

"Peasants," Opaline snorted as she looked him down. Kylar laughed along nervously.

Amalia cringed on Marco's behalf. But at least he had bought her time. As soon as the wall rose back into place, she leapt into the air and whispered one of her most familiar spells: "Wyvern-Wing Wind Boost!"

She faltered as she didn't feel the usual _whoosh_ of wind like that of when a wyvern beat their wings. As she hit the apex of her leap and gravity began to pull her down, it hit her: the battery! The spell wasn't going to work without a new one, which she certainly didn't have. How could she have been so stupid?!

She tumbled down into the aisle, breaking her fall with a haphazard roll. All three of them stared down at her in shock, especially—she cringed—Opaline. "Amalia?!" her ex-friend exclaimed.

Amalia shot her a nervous smile back. "H-Hey there, Opa! Long time no see! Hehe…" she shoved herself up, scrambled for traction on the slick ground, and dashed away, followed by Marco. The last thing she heard from her ex-best-friends was Opaline— "Eww, Amalia's hanging out with Peasant Boy?"

And Skylar— "Well, he might not be a peasant, you know. He was from a different dimension."

And Opaline one last time— "Fine, Alien Boy."

Amalia's fists balled, but she kept on running until they were out of the jewelry department, out of earshot. She let out a " _Grrrrrrrr!_ " of anger, balling her left fist tighter and clutching her sword with her right. She swung it—casting spells usually helped let her anger out—but nothing happened. "You useless piece of junk!" she shouted, hurling her prized possession far away.

Marco, bravely, approached her. "Hey, calm down, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Yes it was! Opaline is such a terrible human being!"

"Is itwhat she said about me?"

"Yeah! She's so freaking—"

"Hey, don't worry about what she says about me. I'm fine."

Amalia sighed, regaining some of her temper. "She's just a… a…"

"We all know people like that. We just have to not let them affect us."

Amalia sighed again, this time the fight leaving her. "You're right. She just gets me so worked up sometimes. Now let's just get to the Magical Weapons Department, get that charger, and get out of here."

"Well, just look where we are."

The banner above them read in bold letters: **MAGICAL WEAPONS DEPARTMENT**.

* * *

 _Magical Weapons Department, Wall-Mart, Super-Mart Dimension_

Amalia went ahead to search for her sword. Marco was about to follow her when he stepped on something that crinkled under his foot. A note. He gasped as he read it, rushing to catch up with Amalia. Finding her crawling on her hands and knees, he got her attention. "Amalia! Look what I found!"

"A note?" she questioned.

"It's from Skylar. She must've put it in your hood or something and—"

A pained look crossed her face. "I don't want to read it."

"I… I think you should, Amalia."

"Oh hey! There it is!" she interjected, dashing over to a haphazard pile of swords on a shelf rising from the ground. She pulled one out of the bottom. It had the blue tint of mythril, unmistakably hers. How she'd noticed it, he had no idea. "The swords are here. That means the chargers have got to be close. Come on!"

She dashed down the aisle and, with a sigh from Marco, the letter was forgotten. He shoved it into his hoodie pocket and raced after her.

"I found them!" she shouted.

"Great, now let's grab it and get back to Star…." His voice trailed off as he came before the towering selection of sword chargers. There were several hundred, and all appeared slightly different. "Don't tell me you need a specific one."

Amalia cringed. "I do. Look for model... um 41A26G."

 _41A26G, 41A26G,_ Marco repeated as he searched the chargers. The model number was located on the back in tiny print, so he had to pull each one off the shelf separately and hold it close to his face to discern it. He got close so many times, with a 41A6B or a 41A36G, but he couldn't find the one he was looking for. After a while, he nearly forgot the code he was looking for. He couldn't help but let his thoughts turn to Star, possibly still unconscious, possibly awake and wandering around in confusion, sixty feet above the ground on top of the shelf in Quest Buy, essentially powerless. He really did hope that nothing happened to her. Beside him, Amalia searched equally as frantically, tearing through the chargers and letting them fall to the floor. He searched and searched. _89B25L, J960L34, 41A26G,_ he read, about to toss the three packages aside.

Wait! _41A26G_! That was it! Finally, mercifully, he'd found it! "Amalia! I've got it!"

"Yes! She shouted, jumping into the snatched up the charger, tore it out of its casing, opened some compartment on her sword, and shoved it in. Then she shoved some more. And some more. It didn't budge."

"Amalia, what's wrong?" Marco groaned.

Amalia chuckled nervously. "Maybe, just maybe, it was actually 41A2 _8_ G."

. . .

No less than fifteen minutes later, they finally found one that fit. (Marco was fairly sure that it was _not_ model 41A28G).

"Wanna try it out?" Marco prompted.

"You bet!" Amalia grinned. " _Frigid Glacier Ice Wall!_ " A flurry burst from her sword, coalescing into a wall of ice about ten feet away that spanned the aisle. Before Marco could blink, Amalia was already firing off another spell: " _Giant Sublimation Flurry!_ "

A wave of frigid air passed by, and the wall of ice simply evaporated into cold water vapor.

Marco watched in slightly terrified awe. "What was _that_?!"  
Amalia shrugged. "Sublimation. When a solid phases directly into a gas under certain temperatures and pressures."

"Can you do that to… like, a-"

"It only works on ice, Marco."

"Just wondering…"

"So, off to find Star then?" Amalia prompted.

"Uh, yeah. Aim for the top of a shelf in Quest Buy."

"Gotcha. With my magic back, it should be a piece of Wayurmi!"

"A piece of wha-ahhhhhh!" Marco trailed off as he was pulled into yet another portal.

* * *

 _Atop a Shelf, Quest Buy, Quest Buy Dimension_

They stepped out onto a shelf about sixty feet off the ground, but there was no sign of Star. "Wait, where's Star?"

Amalia shrugged. "Well, you didn't exactly tell me which shelf she was on." She took in their surroundings. "Not that it would have helped much in a maze like this, though." They looked around, but neither could find Star anywhere. " _Binocular Summoning Spell_ ," Amalia muttered, and binoculars appeared. "Good thing we got that charger back, huh?" mentioned Amalia.

Marco suddenly gasped. "Amalia, you didn't pay for that!"

Amalia frowned, then shrugged. She dug some change out of the pocket of her blue _cochaka_ hooded dress, which she had decided to wear today, and muttered something unintelligible. A mini wyvern popped into existence. It looked like Ratha's twin, except zoomed out about 100 times and slightly translucent.

"Rathita, could you please give this to the clerk at Wall-Mart on my behalf? For a sword-charger."

"And the charger boxes on the ground?" Marco reminded her.

"And fix the charger boxes on the ground," Amalia repeated. Rathita grumbled a bit at that but took the change and disappeared.

"So… what exactly was that?" Marco asked.

"An avatar. A figment. A hologram, some people call them, I think, although they can carry things."

"And you can just send them to do stuff for you?"

"Well, usually places will make you pay in person, but Wall-Mart prides itself in convenience," she recited.

Marco frowned, remembering their trip not being awfully convenient.

Amalia now had her binoculars back up to her face. "Oh hey! There she is! C'mon!"

She grabbed Marco's hand and leaped from the shelf, dragging Marco with her. Just as gravity began to overtake them and Marco became sure that they weren't going to make it to the next shelf, that they would plummet sixty-no, this looked more like eighty-feet to the ground and reach a certain death, Amalia shouted " _Wyvern-Wing Wind Boost!_ " and jabbed her wand up toward the shelf that was still at least fifteen feet from them and rapidly growing taller as they fell. For a moment, nothing happened, then the two rocketed up and landed perfectly on the shelf that had, a moment before, been far out of reach. " _That's_ the spell I was planning to use back when we saw Opa and Kylar!" Amalia exclaimed. Then she strengthened her hold on Marco's arm and did it all again, over and over until Marco was starting to feel sick. But relief cleared it away as Star came into view. She was on her side, not moving. They approached and stood around her.

"Is she still unconscious?" murmured Amalia.

Suddenly, Star sat up and yawned. "Hey guys! What took you so long? I took a nap waiting for you!"

"That's a no, then," Marco said to Amalia.

Star got to her feet and looked around. "Now, what happened to my wand? I swear I had it…. Oh. There it is!"

They all looked to the ground sixty feet below, but they couldn't see anything. Amalia held the binoculars back up to her eyes, then pointed. "Oh, yeah! There it is!"

Then, Buff Frog, who Marco could make out even from this distance, ran across and snatched up the wand.

"After that frog!" Star shouted and leaped from the shelf sixty feet above the ground, wandless. _But the dimensional scissors…_ Marco reminded himself before scanning the top of the shelf and finding the dimensional scissors left behind; they'd probably fallen out when Star was asleep. Both Amalia's and Marco's eyes moved from the abandoned scissors to each other as both came to the same conclusion. From below came up a shout of "Amalia! Some help here!"

Spurred by Star's cry, Amalia dove off in a skydiver's headfirst position, hoping to cut through the air faster than the flailing Star. Just a few feet off the ground, Amalia caught up and whirled her blade around, sending a gust of air to cushion their landing, but it was barely enough. Both girls went sprawling. Amalia tucked into a roll to minimize impact, while Star was sent tumbling wildly into a shelved gong headfirst, resulting in a loud resonating sound and vibrating her entire body.

"Ama-a-a-a-a-alia-a-a-a! Yo-o-o-ou c-c-c-couldn't m-m-m-make that a b-b-bit less p-p-p-p-painful-l-l-l-l?!"  
"Hey, you were the one that recklessly jumped of a four-story-tall ledge without magic."

Star frowned. "I expected you would catch me."

Amalia threw up her hands. "I can't do everything! Why does everyone always think that I can do everything?!"

"Better than them thinking you can't do anything!"

Sensing a bad situation, Marco picked up the dimensional scissors. " _Please_ work with me!" he muttered, then cut a portal and hopped in, landing in his bedroom.

He cut another and, thankfully, sprawled out only about two feet from the ground to hear Star saying, "Well, if you hadn't lost your charger and broken mine-"

He quickly walked between the two, breaking the tension between them. "C'mon, guys, let's get Star's wand!"  
"But we don't know where he went! We'll never find him in here!" Star cried.

"Oh, yes we do," returned Amalia. With a shout of " _Magical Footprint Reveal!_ " tracks of webbed, three-toed feet glowed blue on the floor. "Let's go!"

She dashed after the footprints as they appeared, Marco and Star trailing behind her. After a few twists and turns, they found Buff Frog panting at the end of the aisle. Upon seeing them, he picked up his loping run again, disappearing around the corner. The three were just behind him, but as they turned the corner, the discovered a large problem. A rather short and lanky problem, really, but still a difficult one nevertheless.

Ludo, backed by his full army, was holding a wand charger.

"Oh, hey! At least we finally found a wand charger!" Star cheered.

Amalia pointed at Buff Frog. "Yeah, but if the wand gets to Ludo, he can recharge it and use it against us!"

Marco was already forming a plan, looking around and spotting a coiled rope on a high shelf. "Amalia, cause a distraction!" he shouted. "Keep Buff Frog away from Ludo! Star, with me."

Both girls nodded at him, then Amalia charged out into the open, shouting, "You are going DOWN, you little green dude!"

Her call was returned with a shrieking, "GET HER!"

Marco started climbing the shelves, Star scrambling up behind him without question. Once he was about ten up in a shelf that he could stand upright beneath, he began clearing the way by tossing the items off and into the now raging battle below. Buff Frog didn't seem to be getting anywhere in the mess, and the debris Marco was raining down hindered him as well. Finally, Marco grabbed the rope and began to uncoil it. When Star caught up, he wrapped it around her waist and tied it off as tightly as he could. "Now, admittedly, this is a stupid plan—"

"Oh, I see what we're doing! Wheee!" Star cried and jumped off toward the mass of bodies below.

"I was going to say to climb down most of the way!" Marco maintained as he scrambled to get a grip on the rope. Just as he did, the rope pulled taut, nearly pulling him off the edge with the force of Star's jump. The rope slid in his hands, stinging with friction burns, but he held on tight, finally grasping on the very end of it.

As Marco watched, Star swooped down and plucked the wand charger from Ludo's claw, eliciting a screech of, "Hey! Give that back!"

As Star came to the peak of her arc, she swung close enough to Buff Frog to snatch the wand from him with her other hand. Then she began swinging back toward a waiting Ludo. Marco, noticing this, frantically pulled the rope in, sending Star soaring just out of reach of Ludo, even with his arms stretched up and hopping up and down.

 _Thank Díos Ludo is so short!_ Marco thought as he hauled Star in.

Amalia looked up at them, seeing that they had retrieved the wand and charger and unsure what to do.

"Amalia, portal!" was Star's direction.

Frowning, Amalia complied, cutting a portal open in an arc over her head. Star took Marco's hand and flung them both off the edge. _Not again_! Marco groaned as they plummeted toward the chaotic mass, sailing deftly into the portal. They tumbled out into Amalia's bed and quickly scrambled away as monsters began piling out after them. Finally Amalia stumbled through, gasping, "A few got through before I could close the portal!"

"We noticed," said Star, nodding toward the line of four monsters in front of them.

Amalia frowned but brushed it off, eyeing Star mischievously. "Wanna try it?"

"You bet!"

On cue, they spun toward each other, shouting in harmony, " _Giant Earth Shock Tremor!_ " They raised their weapons above their heads as they clashed together and produced yellow shockwaves that sprung to the ground and spread to the monsters and, unfortunately, to Marco as well. As the ground trembled beneath him, he lost his footing and fell to the floor, unable to steady himself enough to get back up. The three monsters underwent a similar situation, rendering them immobilized. Amalia ran around them, drawing her sword through the fabric of reality behind her. With a few spells, Star sent each monster flying through Amalia's portal one by one.

Once the tremors had subsided, Marco finally managed to get to his feet. To his surprise, the infrastructure of the room was unharmed. "Cool spell! Where'd you learn that?"

Amalia shrugged. "The same way all spells are created…"

"Creativity and practice!" Star finished. The girls giggled, their earlier confrontations seeming to be forgotten.

It was then that Marco realized something as a burnt smell wafted up into the room. "The oven! We never turned it off!"

"Oops!" both girls cried. The three dashed out of the room, running smack into Sally, who was carrying a heaping plate of blackened nachos.

She just managed to balance them as they crashed into her. "Oh, hey guys! You're back! I came down and saw some nachos in the oven, and you were gone so I took them out. She plucked a black nacho from the stack, making a loud crunch that elicited a cringe. "They don't taste quite the same though. You want some?"

She held out the plate to Marco, but he declined, pushing the plate back at her. Star and Amalia eyed each other.

"Um, no thanks!" Star said.

"Wouldn't wanna take those… erm, _delicious_ cheesechips from you!" Amalia agreed.

"Okay then, more for me I guess!" Sally concluded, happily munching on another ash-coated chip.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Marco whispered, "Should I make a new plate of nachos?"

Both Amalia and Star brightened. "Yeah! / You bet!"

"Although, maybe don't try magically turning off the oven this time."

Both girls grumbled in fake disappointment, and Marco set himself to work.

* * *

 **BLEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH! Terrible ending, I know, but if I didn't end it there, I'd end up rambling even more than I already have.**

 **Anyway, I know what you're all thinking: "WHAT? A chapter that isn't emotionally loaded? This isn't M &BFDIB, this must be an impostor!" Well, I'll assure you that I am, in fact, myself (I think, at least). This chapter just kinda had a different feel to it, with Amalia and Star being split up. I sorta had something planned, but it just didn't turn out. Nevertheless, I did put a few slightly more subtle hints in there, and also drew on the overestimation often attributed to Amalia as indicated in her bio. (Finally got to that!) Also, Amalia now has her own form of Star's Cloudy, Rathita! He probably won;t appear much, but he does exist.**

 **When I started this chapter, I actually thought this would turn out much shorter, but look where we are: the longest chapter I've written for this story! (What? It's mostly in the A/Ns? Shh!) Also, sorry we didn't see much of Sally this time! She's not my character, so I feel a little less confident using her, but she got a cameo at the end! Apparently she's one of those weird people who like burnt food (no offense intended :) ). And apparently the Diaz parents just don't exist when I write! Don't worry, though, they'll be in the next chapter.**

 **Oh, and I almost forgot! First appearance of Opa and Skylar in person! That… didn't go well, to say the least. Will Amalia ever read Skylar's letter? How will she react? What does the letter say? Well, spoilers-not-spoilers: it'll be a while until it's revealed.**

 **That's just about all! Seriously, I have respect for anyone who's read through all of the A/Ns! See ya soon hopefully!**

 **:D**

 **~Mario and BFDI Bros.**


	12. Chapter 12: Family Vacation in Draclord

**What's up my friends! StarKeyblade here, bringing you another chapter of Star and Amalia vs the Forces of Darkness! Now this chapter will take place as of the episode Diaz Family Vacation. Only difference here is that the vacation won't be on Mewni, in this chapter we will be headed for Amalia's home dimension. That's right people, we're going to the Bahamut Kingdom aka Draclord!**

 **Chapter 12: Family Vacation in Draclord**

It was another sunny day at the Diaz household. Star was currently sitting in front of her mirror speaking with her parents who had called to let her know about her father's all day lecture about proper throne posture. As her father explained, Star quickly began to slip into the clutches of her most hated enemy… boredom.

' **So this is what being bored to death feels like, huh? … I don't like it.** ' She thought before she heard her mother calling her.

"Star! Are those dimensional scissors behind you?" Queen Moon said which prompted Star to look behind her with widened eyes and see said scissors laying behind her.

"Uhh… no of course not. These are just regular earth scissors. See?" Star said as she used the scissors to make a paper unicorn decoration. But is also opened a small portal allowing a monster hand to reach through. Luckily, her parents didn't seem to notice.

"Good, because you're not leave earth. Period." Moon said.

"I would never think of doing that." Star smiling to her parents as she discreetly pushes the arm back through the portal.

"Well that all well and good sweet heart," King River said. "Though I am curious as to why you have an extra bed in your room dear?"

"That is a good question," Moon added as she looked around her daughter's room. "In fact Star, your room appears to have more things in it. As if you're not the only person living there. Would care to explain why that is?" she said in a very curious tone.

"Umm… well you see," before Star could explain, the bedroom door opens and Amalia walked in with a plate of fried peanut butter and jelly brownie sandwiches with Sally right behind her carrying several books.

"Hey Star, I just made a plate of fried PB & J's and I figured that - " Amalia stopped midsentence when she saw Star was talking on her mirror with two people whose eyes landed right on her and Sally who bumped in her.

"Hey Amalia, how come you stopped what you were going to – " Sally looked passed her stack of books and saw the two people on Star's mirror looking back at her and Amalia. "Oh hello there!"

"Uhh hello?" River said a bit confused as Moon looked to Star with a very demanding glance.

"Star, explanation now." Moon said in her authoritative voice.

Amalia walked over to her dresser and placed the plate of snacks down before walking back over and standing next to Star. She then placed a hand on her chest and slightly bowed to the two monarchs which surprised them and Star.

"I assume you must be Star's mother and father, the king and queen of Mewni?" Amalia said in an official and polite voice which further shocked the three mewmans but not Sally as she silently watched. "My name is Princess Amalia Faye Ling Dalmasca, first born to Queen Okita Taiyō Dalmasca and King Orion Hayate Dalmasca of the royal family to the Bahamut Kingdom of the Draclord dimension. It is a great honor to meet you both and it has been a pleasure knowing your daughter." She said as she raised her head and looked to see the absolute stunned faces of Star and her parents. Amalia then glanced over at Star silently giving the message to speak now.

'Oh right! I get it now!' Star said in her mind before addressing her parents. "So Mom and Dad," Star said getting her parents attention. "This is my roommate who was also sent to earth, Princess Amalia." She said before hearing Sally clear her throat. "Oh right; and this one of Amalia's instructors Sally Valestone!"

Sally placed her books on the floor before bowing to Star's parents. "An honor to me you your majesties."

"O-of course, a pleasure to meet you both as well." "Y-yes, likewise." Moon and River said recovering from their initial shock.

"Well Star dear, glad to see you've come across such impressive friends on earth." River said proudly. "Though I dear say I've never been to this Draclord dimension before. What about you, Moon?"

"I've never heard of this dimension either." Moon replied.

"Well in all due respect Queen Moon and King River, not many people from Draclord know about Mewni." Amalia said respectfully. "But I believe one of the other kingdoms from my dimension do trading's with one of your allies. But I'm afraid I don't know which."

A sudden beeping soon interrupts the conversation as River looks at a watch on his wrist.

"Oh dear, would you look at the time. I'm afraid me and your mother will have to cut you short here Star, I have to prepare for my lecture. It's was a pleasure to meet you Princess Amalia and as well Ms. Sally." River said as he waked off.

"Oh your father and his lectures," Moon said rolling her eyes. "It was nice to speak to you Star. And it was indeed a pleasure to meet you Princess Amalia and Ms. Valestone." She said as the two bowed to her.

"Well it was an honor to get to meet you and your husband, Queen Butterfly." Amalia said.

"I must admit; I'd like to hear more about your dimension. and if possible; I'd like to have the pleasure of meeting your parents as well dear." Moon said.

Amalia thought about that idea for a moment. She much like Star, found formal royal events and meetings as boring as a sleeping Popo. But despite what she thought of the events, she knew that one day she would queen of her kingdom, and that meant building strong bonds with other kingdoms. The Bahamut Kingdom was currently allied with the Gemnia Kingdom and the Meterolia Kingdom. After Cressa's father passed away and the new monarchy took over, the Dianaria Kingdom cut ties with her kingdom. And as far as she knew, there wasn't any word on where they stand with the Coastland Kingdom from the realm of the scythe. The only kingdom that had an alliance outside of her dimension was Opaline's kingdom. So why not take a page from her former friend's book and do the same?

"That's sounds like a wonderful proposal, Queen Moon." Amalia said. "I'll inform them of your proposal and let you know if they accept."

"Thank you very much dear. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to catch up with my husband." Moon said as she bowed to Amalia before looking to Star. "Star, you may want to follow your friend's example of proper behavior." She said before ending the call.

Once it did, Amalia let out a sigh as she felt Star's eyes landing on her and hear Sally's snickering.

"Uh Amalia?" Star said. "What… was all that?"

"Remember when I said I was also training to be Mystic Knight?" Amalia asked as Star nodded her head. "At first my parents were against the idea, but then after my constant begging, my mom said I could do on one condition."

"Which was?" Star elaborated.

"Which was in addition to letting Gabranth train me to be a Mystic Knight, I had to also put in just as much effort into my duties as a princess." Amalia explained.

"So your parents are letting you train to be this awesome sword swinging magic knight, but you also need to do boring princess stuff? Boo." Star said while Amalia laughed a little.

"Yeah it was a clever move by my mom, but I sort of got used to it after a while."

"So wait, when did you ask your parents this again?" Star asked.

"Hmm around when I was… 8 years old I think?" Amalia said.

"Yeah, I don't think I could manage not dying of boredom at 8." Star said as Amalia and Sally laughed.

A knock was soon heard at the door. As it opened, Marco came in with Gabranth right behind him wearing his causal clothes.

"Hey guys come on downstairs. We're starting soon." Marco said.

"Starting what?" Sally asked.

"The anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Diaz marriage to each other." Gabranth said. "Marco and I have been down in the kitchen preparing a special lunch for the occasion."

"Oh crap!" Amalia said. "It's their anniversary and I didn't get them anything! Shoot!"

"Oh no, I didn't get them anything either!" Star said in a panic as well.

"Hmm, I wonder if can make them something," Sally said

"Nononono! Sally, that's alright." Marco said.

"Indeed, no need to… trouble yourself over the matter of a gift for them." Gabranth said.

"Yeah," Marco said before looking to the two princesses. "Star, Amalia, you two don't have to worry either. My gift can be from all three of us."

"I'll pass," Amalia said. "I want get them something that comes from me and me only, Marco. I want to show them just how cool they really are."

"Same here," Star said in agreement. "Unlike my parents Marco, yours are actually cool."

Marco stood a little shell-shocked at hearing this, but quickly recovered.

"O-kay, well just come downstairs when you've both thought of something you want to give them." Gabranth said as left with Marco and Sally behind him.

"Alright," Star said. "Now what would be a great gift to give to Marco's parents?"

"Well it has to be something really amazing." Amalia said.

"Yeah, and big." "And spectacular," "And completely unexpected." They both said as they continued to think.

They both soon heard the sound of Ratha roaring outside from the upper level of their shared tower. They climbed up the spiral staircase and saw the Rathalos had entered through the large opening that Amalia had put in when Star said it would be cool for Ratha to come into their room and hang with them.

"Ratha boy, what is it?" Amalia asked.

Ratha lumbered over to show the rusted shield to the two girls.

"I think he want to play right now." Star said as Ratha nudged Amalia with the shield to confirm Star's guess as right.

"Sorry boy, me and Amalia can't play right now." Star said.

"Yeah, were trying to come up with what to give Mr. and Mrs. Diaz for their anniversary. So we don't have time – " Amalia then stopped midsentence as an idea popped into her head. "Hey Star? I think I just thought of the perfect gift."

"Really?" Star asked. "But I still need to think of something for my gift."

"Don't worry Star," Amalia said as she placed an arm around her friend. "I think my idea will benefit both of us." She said as she whispered to Star what her plan was.

When Star heard what it was, her eyes widened and a giant smile soon followed.

"Really? We're taking them there?" Star asked excitement already pouring out of her.

"Yep, you head downstairs while I make the call, okay?"

"Got it! This is going to be so exciting!" Star said as she raced out the room while Amalia when over to her mirror.

"Alright, here goes nothing. Mirror, mirror on the wall. Call…

* * *

Downstairs, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz were receiving their gifts after having had an amazing lunch made by Marco and Gabranth. Their first gift was from Gabranth which were a new Rolex watch for Mr. Diaz and a ruby bracelet for Mrs. Diaz. Next was Sally who just so happened to have a gift for the couple in the form of two bottle. One had a blue liquid in it while the other had a purple liquid. Sally said the blue one was a cologne for Mr. Diaz and the purple was perfume for Mrs. Diaz. The couple thanked the young researcher for the gift.

"Okay, here's my gift!" Marco said as he held out his present to his parents. As his father opened the gift, his mother pulled out…

"Wow Marco… more fanny packs." His mother said.

"Wait, more?" Sally asked before looking over at Marco. "You got them the same gift?"

"No, these ones are waaaay better than the ones I got them last year." Marco said.

"There still a nice gift Marco," his father said. "You know we love to travel and see the sights."

"Then do I have surprise for you guys!" Amalia said was she slid down the railing and landed next to Star. "Because I am giving you two a trip to Draclord for your anniversary gift!"

"We're going to Draclord!" the couple cheered in excitement.

"Wait, we're really going to your home?" Marco asked. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yes, I'm a bit curious too on how you plan to do this, princess?" Gabranth asked in a suspicious voice which did not go unnoticed by Amalia who had a knowing smirk on her face.

"Well if you must know Gabranth, I made a call to my mother and told her I wanted to bring my host family and friend to Draclord to not only celebrate their special occasion but also as a way to show our appreciation." Amalia said.

"Q-Queen Okita knowns of this?" the Judge Magister said in disbelief.

"Yep, so since Mom is cool with it; get yourself in your armor and round up Ratha and Saber. Because our next destination is Draclord!"

"Does this mean we get to see what Ratha looks like at his real size!?" Star asked excitedly to which Amalia nodded her head. "Yay! When do we leave!? When do we leave!?"

Just then sound of a portal opening and something landing in front was soon heard by everyone. They all looked out the window and saw a large carrier ship with the symbol of Amalia's kingdom on its side.

"As soon as you all can get ready?" Amalia answered.

* * *

 **(Draclord, Bahamut Kingdom,** **Aerodrome)**

As soon as the Atomos was docked and its doors opened, Star bolted out of her seat and entered the aerodrome lobby, followed by a just as eager Mr. and Mrs. Diaz who were dressed in their tourist attire. Amalia and Sally came out next followed by Marco and lastly Gabranth who had changed into his Judge Magister's armor.

"Whoa," Star said as she looked around in complete amazement. "What is this place?"

"This is the Aerodrome," Amalia said. "It's were people in Draclord got if they want to use the Skyferry to travel by air."

"Oh, so it's similar to airports, like on earth." Marco said.

"Only difference is that people don't have to wait in long lines to catch their flits." Sally said.

"Okay, now my mom said she would send someone down here to meet us when we got off." Amalia said as she looked around the lobby. She was then suddenly tackled to the ground by two little blurs. One was pale blonde, while the other was dark blue.

"Owww," Amalia groaned as she laid on the ground. "What the heck just hit me?"

"Try looking down for the answer." "Yeah, look down! Look down!" two familiar voices said.

Amalia looked down and saw her sisters Illyasviel and Ishtar hugging looking back at her with smiles as they hugged her tightly.

"Hey you two, how are my two favorite sisters doing?" Amalia said as she sat up and hugged her two sisters just as tightly.

"We're your only two sisters dummy." Ishtar said as she continued to hug her older sibling. "But fine none the less."

"It's so great your back big sister!" Illya said happily as she snuggled deeper into Amalia's chest.

"Okay, okay; easy there Illya. Now can you both let me up, now?" Amalia asked.

The two little girls then let go so their sister could stand back and dust herself off.

"So Amalia, aren't you going to introduce us?" Ishtar asked as she looked at the rest of the group. "I recognize your friend Star from when you called before, but what about the rest?"

"Oh right," Amalia said as she turned to everyone else. "Okay first off; as you said little sister, you and Illya already know Star." She said pointing to the smiling blonde whose eyes were sparkling.

"Oh my glob! You sisters look even more adorable in person Amalia." Star said as she crouched down to Illya, who was hiding behind Amalia. "Hi there, do you remember me from before?"

Illya peeked from behind and looked at Star curiously.

"It's okay Illya, Star's not going to bite you. Go on and say hello." Amalia said as she nudged Illya closer to Star.

"Are… you sure?" Illya asked pointing to Star's head top. "Because she has those horns… on her head there."

"Oh this?" Star said pointing to her horned headband. "This is just a headband I wear." She said as she took her headband off and showed it to the young draconoid. "See?"

"Oooooh, I think I saw a headband like that in a store one time." Illya said. "Can… can I try it on, please?"

"Sure you can, here you go." Star said as she placed her headband on Illya's head. "Awww, you look even more adorable like that."

"Thank you very much." Illya said smiling back at Star.

"Alright," Amalia said. "Now this guy here in the red hoodie, this my friend from earth, Marco Diaz."

"Hello there, it's nice to meet you both." Marco greeted.

"Nice to meet you as well," Ishtar said. "So what did you think of my big sister when you first met her? She didn't do anything… destructive did she?"

"Why is that the first thing you ask him?" Amalia groaned.

"Uhh well, she seemed like a nice enough person when I met, you know baring her carrying a sword and all." Marco said sheepishly. "There were a couple of… things that happened, but she turned out to be a cool person."

"I see, well I'm glad she found someone other than us who can handle her craziness." Ishtar said grinning at her elder sibling.

"Okay we get it, I'm wilder than a Brute Tigrex and you're as harmless as a sleeping Lagombi." Amalia said rolling her eyes before continuing the introductions. "Moving on; Illya and Ishtar, do you both remember Sally here?"

"Sister Sally!" Illya shouted happily and ran up to hug the glasses wearing girl who quickly scooped her up into a hug.

"Hey there little Illya! Oh I haven't seen you since you were 2 yrs. Old." Sally gushed as she continued to mush Illya affectional. "So have you been keeping up with your studies?"

"Yeah, Zargabaath has been teaching all sorts of things." Illya said proudly.

"Ooooh, that's good to hear. But hey, where's…" Sally started to say before she noticed Ishtar was hiding behind Amalia. "Oh Tarry? Aren't you going to come over and greet me too?" she said waving over at the dark blue haired girl.

"Hello," Ishtar said before moving back behind Amalia.

"Aww, that's all I get?" "Yes, that's all you'll get." Ishtar said while Amalia sighed in exasperation.

"Ishtar, when are you going to get over what happened?" Amalia asked. "Because it's not like Sally meant for the- "

"Don't you dare mention it!" Ishtar shouted with her cheeks glowing red. "Now can you please finish introducing us to everyone else?"

"Alright fine," Amalia said. "Now lastly; we have Marco's parents here, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz."

"Hello there," "Very nice to meet you both." The couple said.

"Hello to you too," Illya said.

"Yes, welcome to our kingdom and we hope you enjoy your time here during your anniversary." Ishtar said.

"Okay, now that we have that out of the way," Amalia said. "Could you both tell me why your down here? Don't tell me mom sent you both down here to meet us?"

"No, I didn't send them dear," a voice from behind Amalia said.

She turned around and saw along with the others, her mother standing right behind her. In place of her usual royal attire, she was wearing a green blouse with black hemlines, complete with a matching pillbox hat, black leggings, and blue ballet shoes.

"These two just ran ahead of me, since they were so eager to see you again." Queen Okita said before looking to the group standing in front of her daughter. "Gabranth, Sally, it's good to see you both doing well."

"Th- Thank you your majesty." "It's good to see you doing fine as well your grace." They both said.

"And you must be my daughter's host family, correct?" Okita said addressing the Diaz's.

"Yes, Hello. I'm Angie Diaz, this is my husband Rafael." Mrs. Diaz says gesturing to her husband.

"Nice to meet you, your highness." Mr. Diaz says as he politely bows his head slightly.

"Nice to meet you as well." Okita says before looking over to Marco. "And I'm assuming you must be their son, correct?"

"Yes, that's me. My names Marco, it a pleasure to make your acquaintance ma'am." Marco said a little nervously which Okita found to be rather adorable.

"You don't have to be so nervous around me," Okita said. "And you all can just call me Okita, you don't have to be so formal during your visit with us. Especially on your anniversary." She said kindly as glance over and noticed Star.

"Now who might you be dear?" Okita asked Star.

"Oh, my name is Star Butterfly, I'm the princess to the royal Butterfly family from Mewni. It's very nice to meet you, ma'am." Star said happily.

"My goodness, I didn't think my little dragon star would meet another princess on earth. How unexpected." Okita said happily surprised as Amalia's face soon turned red from her mother calling her by the nickname she uses.

"Mom! Can you not call me that in public, please? It's embarrassing!" Amalia said tugging on her hair as she heard Star, Marco and Sally snickering.

"Aww, why? You never use to mind when I called you that." Okita said.

"Yeah, when I was 6, I'm 14 now, Sheesh." "Okay dear, I won't call you by that name… much." "Mom!"

The other soon started laughing much to Amalia embarrassment.

"Okay, I think that's enough fun at my daughter's expense." Okita said. "If you'll all please follow me? I'd like our honored guests to get the full Draclord experience." She said as she leads the group out of the Aerodrome to the entrance.

* * *

As they exited, the group entered what looked to be a bustling area filled with people and even some other species. There were some that had long rabbit ears, some pig-like monsters and even a couple of bangaa were walking around and talking to people.

"Whoa, this place is amazing." Marco said taking in the sight of everything.

"Yeah, and there are some many different kinds of people here. It's kind of different from Mewni." Star said.

"Allow me to welcome you to New Rabanastre," Okita said. "Here is where you'll find regular citizens of our kingdom. As well as many market places and residential areas. There are also a couple of place here that sell weapons, magicite stones, traveling supplies and many other things."

"Ooooh," Mr. and Mrs. Diaz said in amazement as they began taking pictures catching the eye of a couple passerby's.

"I think you guys might want to save some film; this is only the western side of New Rabanastre." Amalia said.

"What!?" Star and Marco shouted. "You mean this is whole place is only the west side?" Marco asked. "I thought we were already in like the main part of your kingdom." Star added.

"Nope, our kingdom is… well… pretty big." Ishtar said. "We actually have map areas set up in places to help people navigate through if it's their first time here. There's actually one right next to us on the wall, take a look for yourselves."

Star, Marco and his parents turned and saw that there was indeed a map that showed different areas and place of the kingdom. Which was in a circular fashion.

"Holy corn! Amalia you never told us your kingdom was **This** big!?" Star said completely surprised.

"Well you never asked about the size of it, Star." Amalia said jovially as Marco checked out the map.

"Okay, so right now we're in the western section of New Rabanastre, right here?" Marco asked.

"That's correct," Okita said walking up to the map. "And to enter New Archadia we'll have to pass through the central gate which we can find after passing through the southern plaza."

"Of course since I happen to know a couple of easy ways to get there quick, we can do a little window shopping and exploring around, right mom?" Amalia asked.

"I don't see why not? It would be nice to show the Diaz family and Star as much of our kingdom during their time here." Okita said approvingly.

"Yes! Alright you guys, follow me and get ready for the time of your lives." Amalia said as she ran off with Illya riding on her shoulders and an excited Star and Mr. and Mrs. Diaz right behind her with Sally bring up the rear while Okita, Marco, Ishtar and Gabranth looked on.

"Your parents certainly have a lot of energy." Ishtar said to Marco.

"Yeah, their very open minded and look on the bright side about a lot of things. It's kind of why they were so accepting and understanding of Star and Amalia's magic and stuff. I mean my dad didn't mind helping make a place for Ratha to sleep." Marco said.

"Really? Wow Marco, your parents certainly are one in a million. I can't image anyone else from your dimension being accepting if they found themselves with watching over two princesses like my sister and Star." Ishtar said impressed.

"Was… that a compliment?" Marco asked confused.

"Indeed it was," Okita said. "Believe it or not it's very rare for my little goddess here to give out compliments like that."

"Mom!" Ishtar shouted as her cheeks turned red. "You said you wouldn't call me that while weren't in the castle!"

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, it slipped out." Okita said. "Anyway, we should try to catch up with your sisters before they end up causing trouble."

"Good point. Plus, we'd be pretty bad guides if we let my sister's host parents and a princess from another dimension get lost in our kingdom." Ishtar commented as she and her mother ran off with Marco and Gabranth following suit.

"So Gabranth," Marco asked as he ran. "This is how the royal family normally acts?"

"In a way young Marco," Gabranth said.

After catching up with Amalia and the others, the group took the time to look at the many different things that were being sold at street venders and also so the Mr. and Mrs. Diaz could take some pictures as they made their way to the southern plaza. And also so Star could find a present for Marco's parents.

Star and Amalia were currently looking at some magicite stones that a green bangaa merchant was selling.

"Hey buddy, do have anything here that would make for a good anniversary gift?" Amalia asked the merchant.

"Aye, I believe I do young miss." He said as she pulled out a small box from under his stall. He then opened it to revel a pair of glowing ruby red earrings with a small four pointed star set in each. "These here are Ruby star earrings, crafted from pure fire magicite. Stare from the Lhusu Mines of Bhujerba."

"That's a perfect gift for Mrs. Diaz!" Star said happily.

"Hold on a minute Star," Amalia said eyeing the merchant. "There has to be a catch. How much for these?"

"Aye, well these beauties obviously aren't cheap, milady." The merchant said in a business-like manner. "But I'm guessing you know that already."

"How much?" Amalia asked again.

"They cost about umm… 1000 dracoins." He said.

"Um, dracoins?" Star asked confused.

"Dracoins are the currency used here in Draclord Star." Amalia said. "And that price is a bit steep for my liking."

"Hmm, well, what price sounds about right to you then miss?" The bangaa merchant asked.

"Mmm… how about 500?" Amalia asked.

"Sorry, can't do that." He said. "What say about… 670?"

"That's still too high a price," Amalia said thinking. "Let's see, how about… 590, final offer."

The merchant thought for a moment, then looked at Star and Amalia whom were giving him innocent smiles and sparkling eyes before giving in.

"Alright, alright; 590 dracoins then." He said shaking hands with Amalia as she gave him the money while he placed the earrings in a box and handed it to her. "Pleasure doing business with ya."

"Likewise." "Thank you." Amalia and Star said as they waved goodbye. "Well now you've got a present for Mrs. Diaz covered." Amalia said as Star looked over the earrings. "Yeah, now I just have to find something to give to Mr. Diaz and I'm all set." Star said happily.

* * *

Meanwhile, Marco and Ishtar were with Gabranth looking at a stall that was selling small armaments.

"Hmm, nothing really stands out to me. How about you Marco, see anything you might like?" Ishtar asked.

"Not really to be honest," Marco said as he continued to look at everything. As he continues looking, Marco catches sight of something. It was an azure broadsword that had a rapier-style hilt, silver chain attached at the bottom of it with a token similar to Amalia's earrings. Only instead of a spiked bottom part, the serpentine dragon was placed on a blue star.

"looks like this sword here caught your eye, huh?" the merchant who was a young man that looked to be around 17, with tanned skin, blond hair, and gray eyes said. He was wearing a loose cropped open metal vest fastened with a pendant as well as dark pants held up by a red sash belt, and a pair of knee-high steel boots.

"Oh, uh yeah, I guess." Marco said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "So, can you tell me more about this sword, please?"

"No problem," the merchant said as he began his explanation of the weapon. "This sword is called the Sutādoragonburēdo or the Star Dragon Blade. It was made using a combination of high-grade magicite, mythril metal, and star ice crystals said to have found in the nest of a legendary dragon."

"Is any of that true?" Marco asked skeptically.

"Well the legendary dragon part, not too sure myself. That's what I was told, and I barley believe it either." The merchant said as he continued. "Anyway, aside from that part; the sword grants its wielder the ability to manipulate all forms of liquid… and fire. strangely enough"

"Fire?" Marco asked confused. "I wouldn't think it could let you wield fire."

"Me either, but apparently the person who sold me this sword said it could do it. But only if it meets the right person." The merchant said. "To be honest with you; that's the reason many people come and buy this sword. But the next day they bring it back and ask for a refund, saying they could get it to work for them."

"Really? That seems like a waste." Marco said looking at the sword. "I mean being able to control fire and water would be cool and all, but it looks like a really well-crafted weapon to use."

"Exactly. You sound like someone who really appreciates something for what it is on the surface." The merchant said approvingly. "As a matter of fact; why don't you take it?"

"What? But I've never used a sword before and I don't have the correct currency for this place." Marco said.

"Oh, you're not from around Draclord, huh?" "No sir, I'm from earth. I'm just visiting here with a couple of people as a trip for my parent's anniversary today." Marco said.

"Well aren't you a stand up kid, huh? Wish I thought of letting my folks see places outside of Draclord." The merchant said. "I'll tell you what; I'll let you have the sword for free, my treat kid."

"Really?" Marco said a bit astonished.

"Yeah, think of it as a reward for being a caring and thoughtful son to your parents." The merchant said as he placed the sword in a black scabbard and handed it to Marco.

"Hey Marco," Ishtar said as she walked over with Gabranth. "Oh, looks like you found a pretty cool looking sword."

"Indeed Marco," Gabranth said looking at the weapon. "it looks to be a fine blade."

"Uh thanks. So what's up?" Marco asked.

"My mom says it's time to keep going to the plaza."

"Okay," Marco said

As he started to walked with the two, he quickly turned around to the young merchant.

"Thank you again for the sword... umm… sorry I didn't get your name."

"It's Vaan, and your welcome." The now named Vaan said as he waved to Marco.

"Names Marco, maybe I'll see you around again." Marco said waving back as he followed Ishtar and Gabranth to where everyone else was.

"Heh, who would have thought I'd run into someone visiting Draclord today?" Vaan said before hearing someone calling him.

He turned and saw a girl with honey colored eyes, long blond hair styled into two pigtails. She was wearing a short gray top that bares her midriff, baggy dark red pants with gold patterns and purple crisscrossing along the sides, and gold shoes that curve at the toe.

"Hey Vaan, did you manage to sell anything today?" the girl asked.

"Actually Penelo, I did." Vaan told the girl known as Penelo. "Know that sword we bought awhile back?" "You mean the one YOU bought, right?" Penelo corrected to which Vaan sighed. "Okay whatever, well I just sold it to someone." "And by sold, you really mean you gave it away." Penelo said. "Vaan, if you're going to try and sell something you can't just… hold on,"

Penelo then looked and saw a small sack sitting on the counter.

"Where did that come from?" Vaan asked.

"You don't' know?" Penelo asked. "It wasn't there before." Vaan said.

Penelo opened it and was it was filled with about 1500 worth's of dracoins which surprised the two.

"Vaan I thought you said you gave the sword away." "I did, the person I gave it to said they weren't from Draclord." Vaan said. "Did this person have anyone with him?" Penelo asked. "Yeah, some little girl and one of the Judges."

Penelo's eyes widened for a moment before she realized what happened and just smiled.

"Well, looks I managed to make a sale after all. Even if it wasn't intentional." Vaan said smiling as Penelo shook her head. "I guess," she said as she took some of the money out of the sack. "Hey! What are you doing!?" "I'm taking my cut. Don't' forget Vaan, I had to cover part of your shift at Migelo's today so you could do this." Penelo said as she tossed the sack to Vaan who sighed. "I guess that's fair, after all we're partners, right?" "Exactly," Penelo said smiling to her partner who smiled back.

* * *

After Marco, Ishtar and Gabranth caught up with the others, they all continued walking for about 14 minutes until they reached the southern plaza which was a huge open area with a large fountain in the center where a lot of people could be seen sitting around and talking while others walked about and passed many different building and places.

"Whoa, that fountain is huge!" Star said as she excitedly ran over and leaned over to look inside. Star could see a couple of small creature swimming in the fountain. "What are these things swimming in the fountain?"

"These are called Zamites," Illya said as she joined Star near the fountain along with Marco, Amalia, and Ishtar. "They're kind of like miniature land sharks with big mouths full of sharp teeth. Their normally found in the colder areas of Draclord, but these are ones that have adapted to the warmer climate."

"Wow Illya, you're very knowledgeable for someone so your age." Marco said impressed as he patted Illya on the head which made her happy.

"Hey, what's that place over there?" Star said pointing to the building that had a sign hanging over it which showed to swords in a cross X style with a Rathalos perched on top.

"Oh, that's the Wyvern's Den," Amalia said. "It's a guild here in the kingdom that works along with our knights to help with more difficult tasks. There's one in each kingdom of Draclord, and I so happen to be a member." Amalia said proudly.

"That's so cool!" Star said. "So what kind of things do you get to do?" "Well we many take on requests that people send to us. Like if there's a certain monster causing problems, we're called to take it out or drive it away. Or if someone needs to be escorted somewhere and needs protection, things like that." Amalia explained.

"And it's not just regular people who make request to the guilds either," Sally said joining them at the fountain while Okita and Gabranth spoke with Marco's parents about the kingdom's history. "The guild will sometimes get requests from the Draklor Laboratory too, it can be either a hunting mission to gather samples or getting a certain material."

"That's true," Ishtar said. "However most of those missions tend to be a bit more… daring."

"Yeah, speaking of that," Amalia said. "Sally, do you know anything about a request that came from someone at the laboratory that involved getting a sample from a Silver Rathalos?" "Umm… nope." Sally said. "Oh, reason I'm asking this is because the reward for that still hasn't come in yet and it's been months."

"Maybe the person forgot?" Marco asked. "Who in the heck forgets about sending in a request that big!? I'll have you know Marco, that fighting a Silver Rathalos is not easy." Amalia said. "It's fast as heck when either running or flying, he's super aggressive and he almost never touches the ground unless he's coming in to slam you with his tail." Amalia said.

"Okay everyone," Okita said getting the group's attention. "It's time to get going. The central gate is right ahead of us."

"Okay," they said as the group leaned off the fountain and followed after the four adults.

* * *

After a short while, the group found themselves approaching a massive gateway that lead to a bridge with two guards standing in front of it. They were wearing armor that was similar to Gabranth's, except theirs was more of a silver-blue color.

"That's the gate, right? Come on, let's hurry!" Star said running ahead.

"Star! Wait a sec!" Amalia said running after her friend.

The guards saw Star running up to the gate and as soon as she tried to run pass, they crossed their spears in front of her, blocking her from entering.

"Hey!" Star said looking to the guards. "What's the big idea?"

"That's our question girl," the guard on the left asked. "Explain your reason for charging at the central gate?" "Uh, because I want to enter the New Archadia?" Star said simply.

The guard on the right sighs as the one on the left shakes his head.

"And what business do you have for entering Miss…?" the guard asked. "Princess Star Butterfly from Mewni." Star said.

The two guards looked at each other before looking back at Star. Just then Amalia finally reaches Star.

"Star, could you not just bolt ahead of us like that?" Amalia said. "I know you want to see the rest of the kingdom, but could you maybe show a bit more restraint." "Oh, sorry Amalia. Yeah, I'll try to take it easy." Star said in apology. "It's cool Star,"

"Princess Amalia!" the guards shouted in upon seeing the dark-blue haired girl. "Our sincerest apologies, we had no idea you were a friend of the princess's." they said bowing their heads in apology to Star.

"Uh, Amalia?" Star asked confused. "Oh for the love, can you two lift your heads up, please?" Amalia asked the guards. "And keep your voices down, the whole kingdom doesn't need to know I'm back. Geez,"

The two guards did as Amalia asked. And when they did, they saw the rest of group. Including Okita and Gabranth.

"Your Highness and Judge Magister Gabranth!" they shouted much to Amalia's annoyance. "What the heck did I just say about the yelling!?"

"Amalia dear," Okita said. "You do realize your yelling too, right?" "That was… because these two… oh forget it. Can you two please just open the gate?" Amalia asked defeated.

"Of course princess," The guards said as the stepped aside to allow the group to pass.

"Wait a moment," Mrs. Diaz said. "I'd like to get a picture of everyone in front of the gate." "Oh, I don't see the harm in that," Okita said.

Everyone soon stood in front of the bridge, including the two guards as Mrs. Diaz took the picture. After that, they crossed the bridge or in Star, Amalia, and Illya's case ran across it. When they got to the other side, they stood in awe at the massive buildings, the many people walking about, and the flying vehicles soaring above their heads.

"Oh. My. Glob! This place is awesome!" Star shouted excitedly as she ran over to a railing to get a better view.

"Wow, so this is like where all the higher-class people of the kingdom live?" Marco asked. "Yes, this is where you'll find people who are connected to either the kingdom's political standing or those who are attending the school here." Gabranth said.

"Oh, you have a school here in your kingdom?" Mr. Diaz asked surprised.

"Yes we do, Sora Ryūjin Academy is our kingdom's education center as well as of military training ground." Okita said.

The group then hitched a ride on a sky taxi as Okita showed them more of the city. Star could hardly believe that she or anyone from Mewni had never heard of this place before. She started to think that she was very lucky to not only meet Marco, but Amalia as well. She then glanced over at her two friends who were sitting next to her and smiled. After a bit, the taxi let them off in front of what Star and Marco could only describe as an enormous castle/palace.

It was surrounded by white-bricked walls covered with ramparts. The castle itself was made up of blue and white-bricked walls with blue-bricked roof. It looked to have windows built into the walls in varies styles. Finally, multiple towers were built around the castle, with two large open courtyards. One in the front of the castle and the other to the far right.

"Welcome to my home guys," Amalia said as she jumped out of the taxi. "Dalmasca Castle, the place where I grew up in." "Well it's defiantly big, that's for sure." Mrs. Diaz said in amazement as she and her husband took some pictures.

"Well when you're a royal family who happens to have a pet fire-breathing Rathalos, you're going to need a lot of space for it to play and exercise." Okita said looking to Amalia who grinned back at her. "Oh yeah, speaking of Ratha mom, I brought him and Saber with us on the atomos we came on. Did you have someone get them off?" Amalia asked her mother. "Yes I did, as well as have someone undo the spell I used to alter their sizes." Okita answered. "Saber should be her shortly, Ratha on the other hand… well,"

Before Okita could get another word out, the group heard a sky piercing roar from above. They looked up and saw a very large silhouette soaring quickly diving down towards them.

"EVERYONE HIT THE DECK!" Amalia shouted as everyone quickly jumped for cover as whatever was coming at them landed in the open courtyard, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"What the… cough… heck was that!?" Marco said through his coughing fit. When the dust settled, Marco came face to face with a lone blue eye that had a crimson slit pupil looking at him. Marco fell backward onto the ground, but when the rest of the dust cloud settled, his panicked looked turned to one of awestruck surprise. "Wait a minute, Ratha? Ratha is that you?" Marco asked to which he was answered with the giant wyvern nuzzling him playfully. "Yep, it's defiantly you."

As soon everyone else came out from where they had dived to, Star immediately ran over to Marco who was patting Ratha.

"Whoaaa, when Amalia said you were really big, she was not kidding Rath." Star said as she started petting the large wyvern on the side of its head. "But you're still a sweetie to me." She said as Ratha nuzzled her too.

"Well I can see Ratha has been getting along with your friends just as easily," Okita said to Amalia. "Yeah, Star was practically over the moon when they first met. And Marco seemed pretty cool with hi too," Amalia said.

"Given the fact Star seems just as gun-ho as you Amalia, it doesn't surprise me on bit." Ishtar said smirking. "Mm-hm, I wonder if Star will make friends with a wyvern of her own? Then she'll really be just like you big sis." Illya added as Amalia rolled her eyes at her two sister's words.

Soon someone with mid-length dark-blue hair wearing a robe-like shirt with long sleeves, dark-blue cape, and plain black pants came running out of the castle with a couple of guards following him.

"What in the heck was that roaring… wait, Ratha?" the person asked seeing the giant bipedal creature. "What are you- "

"Hey dad!" Amalia shouted as she ran from behind Ratha towards her father who was even more surprised.

"Amalia! You're here too!?" he said in shock before being tackled into a hug from his daughter. "Yeah I'm here too! What? You're not happy to see your oldest daughter?" "N-no! that's not it! I'm just surprised is all. What are you doing here?" Orion asked as he glanced over to the two other teens who were waving at him. "And who did you bring with you?"

"Dear," Okita said as she walked from behind Ratha followed by their two other daughters, Gabranth, Sally and two other people he didn't know. "Would you like an explanation before your head pops open from overload?" she asked her husband.

"Uh… yes, yes I would." Orion said already feeling his head spinning.

* * *

The group was soon lead into the castle. The interior look of it seemed to be a blend of a classical royal and modern theme. Okita pointed out several room such as the throne room, dining room, a training area, a study, a game room surprisingly enough, and finally, the royal ballroom, where they hold special occasions. After the mini tour of the inside, they all came to the back courtyard were a sitting area was. Once there, Amalia introduced Star, Marco, his parents and Sally to her father and also told why they came to home.

"So you spoke with your mother about letting your host family come and see the kingdom for their anniversary. Now this whole thing makes sense." Orion said in understanding. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you all, I'm Orion Dalmasca, Amalia's father." He greeted. "And it's also a pleasure to know you as well Princess Star."

"Same here, and you can just call me Star." Star said. "You look kind of like someone who'd be better at fighting than being a king. Oh! Not that I'm saying you're a bad king or anything!"

"Ah don't worry, no offence." Orion said. "In fact, Okita here said the same thing when we first met." "Well at the time you were carrying a sword that was two times bigger than you, so excuse me assuming." Okita said jokingly. "I never said you were wrong; I did just come back from a mission when we met." Orion said as he placed his arm around his wife. "Anyway, I hope Amalia hasn't been giving you all too much trouble."

"Your starting to sound like Ishtar, Dad." Amalia said/groaned.

"I only asked just in case you blew something up," Ishtar commented.

"Oh no need to worry, Amalia's actually helped liven up things for us lately." Mrs. Diaz said. "Yes, she, Star, Ratha, Senor Gabranth, and Senora Sally have made our days a lot more fun." Mr. Diaz added happily.

"Well that's good to hear," Okita said. "To be honest, I was a bit worried about sending Amalia somewhere else to train. I glad to hear your doing so well." She said smiling to her daughter who smiled back.

"Well, I did not expect to find this upon looking for you, my queen."

The group turned and saw two people walking up to them. They were both wearing the same kind of armor as Gabranth, except one was golden and the other was had red markings on the helmet and chest area.

"Oh, Ghis, Zargabaath, my apologies for making you both look for me. But as you can see, I left to go greet my daughter and our guests." Okita said. "Everyone, this Judge Ghis and Judge Zargabaath." She introduced.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Diaz, this is my husband, and our son, Marco." "Hello," "Hey,"

"Greetings and welcome to our kingdom." Zargabaath said politely as Ghis bowed.

"Hi there, my names Star, I'm princess from Mewni." Star said happily. "So you guys are like Gabranth's Judge friends, right?"

"Judge… friends?" Ghis asked confused,

"I believe princess Star, means fellows judge magisters, Ghis." Zargabaath clarified as he turned to Star. "Though I must say this is a rare occurrence, I was aware of the fact that the Gemnia and Meterolia kingdoms did do trade with another kingdom outside of Draclord. It was during a task in Gemnia, I was in the process of leaving when I came across Queen Emerald seeing some people off as they entered a flaming portal. It was then I heard them mention the name Mewni, but did not choose to pry any further."

"A flaming portal? Star do you know anyone from your dimension that travel like that?" Sally asked. "I may know, but the name is escaping right now." Star said as she sighed and thought about what she heard. ' **You have got to be kidding me? Why did it have to be… him of all people? Ugh.** '

"Anyway," Ghis said getting everyone's attention. "Your highness, the reason we were looking for you is because a request came in from the guild."

Ghis then gives Okita a parchment. Okita then looks is over,

"A Valstrax?" Okita asked. "I've never heard of it before."

"Yes, it was recently discovered." Ghis said. "It's been classified as an Elder Dragon, and unfortunately much like a Deviljho, this creature is nomadic."

"Oh dear," Okita said. "What do we know so far about this Valstrax?" Orion asked.

"From what the researcher at Draklor were able to compile, this creature has the ability to discharge Draconic energy from its trident-like wings and fly at high speeds." Zargabaath said. "Speaking of its wings; it's able to change the alignment of them, forming them into jagged spears or flipping them frontwards and firing off blasts of draconic energy."

"So we're dealing with something that can fly at high speed, can turn its wings to razor sharp spears to shish kebab someone, and to top it off it can fire blasts of death by flipping it's wings forward. That it?" Orion said. "Why is it when something new is found it usually always comes back to bite you?"

"That sounds more good to me, dad." Amalia said with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes which Orion spotted.

' **Oh no, I know that look in her eyes.** ' He thought. Before he could even say anything Okita spoke also apparently noticing the look in their daughter's eye. "Amalia I see that look in your eyes and I already know what you're thinking." Okita said.

"Mom come on, a new elder dragon and you expect me not to get excited about it?" "I never said you couldn't get excited about a new discovery. But I don't remember saying you could go out and fight it?" Okita said before looking Ghis and Zargabaath. "Do we know of its current location?"

"Yes, it's currently residing in the Starfall field of Giza Plains. A small village close by is where the request came from." Ghis said.

"Very well then," Okita said as she got up from her seat. She then glanced over at Amalia who she could see now had a dejected look on her face. "Gabranth?"

"Yes your Highness?" the Judge Magister said standing in attention. "Could you give me a brief rundown of Amalia's training so far on earth?" Okita asked which confused the others and drew her daughters and husband's attention. "Well your Highness; since our stay on earth Princess Amalia has been making great strides during our lessons." "I see," "Yes, especially her training with Princess Star and young Marco here." Gabranth said which surprised Okita and Orion.

"Wait hold on," Orion asked looking to Star and Marco. "You two help with Amalia's training as well?"

"Yeah, it's actually really fun training to use my magic with Amalia!" Star said as she pulled out her wand. "I always have to think quickly because of how fast Amalia can switch from spell casting to charging down at me with her sword."

"Wow Star, I didn't know you could use magicks!" Illya said excitedly. "Yes, that is indeed surprising." Okita added before looking to Marco. "So Marco, how do you help in Amalia's training?"

"Oh, well I kind of help out more in the physical and thinking part." Marco said. "Some mornings me and Amalia will jog around the neighborhood, then come back and spar a bit before breakfast. As for the thinking part, we've been playing chess."

"The princess… playing chess?" Ghis said a bit surprised. "And… how has she done… in playing?" he asked the Latino boy. "Well currently we're doing best of 10. Right now it's me with 4 win, while Amalia has… 1."

"Like I said Marco, I'm still working on making strategies." Amalia wined. "I never said anything about you not making strategies." Marco replied. "I just think you should try thinking of fighting a bit more defensively is all." "I know, and I'm still working on that. It's tough trying to fight like that."

"Okay, I think I've heard enough." Okita said getting everyone's attention. "Ghis, Zargabaath, and Gabranth?"

"Yes your Highness!" the three judge magisters said quickly. "I'd like you three to head out and drive this Valstrax off if you can." Okita said. "Yes your highness!" "Also," Okita then looked over at Amalia, then to Star, Marco and Sally. "I'd like you to take these four with you."

"Wait, what!?" the four said as Okita smiled and Orion's eyes widened before he let a smirk appear on his face.

"How did I know you were going to say that mom." Ishtar said while Illya giggled. "Why else would you ask those questions after hearing that big sister's friends have been helping her with her training." "That's because mommy has that foresight thing." Illya said.

' **Yep, That's Okita for you.** ' Orion thought. ' **Bet she'd want to go out there too if she could, always been like that.** '

"Yes! Can you guys believe it! We get to help fight a newly discovered elder dragon!" "Yeah! This is going to be awesome!" Amalia and Star cheered.

"Um… what? How? Why?" Marco spurted trying to make sense of what just happened while Sally patted him on the back.

"Your Highness?" Ghis said. "Are you sure it's… alright to bring these young ones? We don't' know what to expect when we encounter the beast. While I can't say much about princess Star," Ghis then looked over to Marco and Sally, "the young man here comes from a dimension where the threat of wyverns is absent."

"I wouldn't too much about Marco, Ghis." Amalia said. "True, earth doesn't have wyverns to worry about. But Marco does know how to fight, and I'm not just talking about sparring with me." "Yeah, Marco's a lot tougher than he looks." Star added.

"Oh yes, our Marco is a very strong fighter for sure." "He's also a quick thinker and very resourceful, even his sensei says he's overflowing with potential." Marco's parents commented.

"Sensei? What's that?" Illya asked. "It's word that describes a respect teacher, princess Illya." Gabranth said. "In this case, young Marco's parents are referring to his combat teacher."

"Hmm, I suppose that is… impressive." Ghis said.

"Well then, I say it's time you all got ready, yeah?" Orion said with Amalia, Star and Sally cheering excitedly. While Marco was a bit worried about the whole thing.

Seeing this, Okita placed a hand on Marco's shoulder, surprising the young boy and getting his attention.

"Don't worry, I know for a fact that you'll be alright." Okita said honestly. "Also, I'm going to be giving you a very special outfit that I've been working on in private for someone… special." She said giggling a bit. "Someone special?" Marco asked confused on what she meant. "Oh don't' think on it too deeply," Okita said waving it off, "For now let's get you all ready."

* * *

After a couple of hours to prepare, the three Judge Magisters and four youths were standing by the south gate which lead to Giza Plains. Gabranth, Ghis, and Zargabaath were wearing their armor as usual. But Amalia decided that she and the others should gear up for this mission too.

"So what do guys think?" Amalia said asking Star and Sally about her attire. She was wearing a breastplate with a fused layered collar featuring a large blue cross centered on the chest, the lower part of the breastplate had a layered design covered by a pair of belts forming an X pattern. It had a single pauldron on one side while leaving the other side exposed, it also had a pair of elbow guards followed by a pair of gauntlets extending up to her elbows. Her waist and hips were protected by multiple leaf shaped faulds which is connected to the lower part of her breastplate. Lastly a pair of black combat boots that went up to her knees finished the look.

"You look amazing Amalia! Like a real Princess knight!" "Yeah, that look really suits you." Star and Sally said. "Thanks guys, you both don't look half bad either." Amalia said. "Yeah, not too sure about my gear." Star said looking at the outfit she was in.

Star was wearing a dark sleeveless mini dress with a white collar and a red tie; she had on a red belt that has a red side skirt cover and holster for her wand. She wore boots that looked similar to her usual dinosaur ones, except they were all black. She also wore blue gauntlets and black gloves.

"Are you sure this counts as armor?" Star asked. "Sure is does," Amalia said.

"Princess Amalia speaks the truth, Princess Butterfly." Zargabaath said. "Though it may not look it, that attire has Mythril woven into it. Meaning you have appeal protection from fire, ice and so on."

"Whoa, so cool. Now I love this outfit!" Star said happily. "So Sally, what's the deal with your armor?" she asked.

Sally's armor consisted of a beautiful, white revealing gown with a hem sprouting from it and a red collar, being tied with a red and gold belt that resembles an obi. The upper part of the dress includes red and white shoulder less sleeves and a rose decoration on the user's left hand, while the foot wear is a pair of red and gold knee-high boots.

"Oh this?" Sally said. "This is Ataraxia Armor, and just like your armor Star there's more to it than how it looks. But you'll have to wait." Sally said. "Aww, alright." Star said. "What the heck is taking Marco so long, anyway?" she said. "Yeah come to think of it, where did Marco go?" Amalia asked.

"Her Highness said she had a "special" outfit for him," Gabranth said. "So he's with my mom right now?" Amalia asked her guard. "Yes, he should be joining us soon."

"Sooner than you think."

The six turned to see Okita walking to them followed Orion who had Illya riding on his back, Ishtar, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz. But they didn't see Marco.

"Umm Mom? Where's Marco?" Amalia asked. "Oh, he's hiding behind his father." Okita said. "He's a bit embarrassed about the outfit I gave him."

"Not embarrassed ma'am," Marco said from behind his father. "Just… not use to wearing something like this."

"Marco come on out and let's see it," Amalia said. "Yeah come on Marco, it can't be that bad." Star said.

"Alright, alright." Marco said in defeat as he stepped out from behind his father. When the others saw what Marco was wearing, they were very surprised. Especially Star and Amalia.

Marco was donned in a high collar sleeveless indigo shirt, black pants and boots, and black cloth covering his left leg and arm. He has a shoulder pauldron, and his chest is covered by two straps, held in place by a badge that was in the shape of what looked to be a fairy.

"Wow Marco, you look pretty cool." Sally said very impressed.

"Indeed, I would say you'd pass for a knight with a strong sense of honor and respect." "Agreed," "I'm feeling more of the mercenary nature from the boy." The three judges said.

"See Marco, you didn't have to worry about anything." Mrs. Diaz said as Marco tried to hide his ever glowing red face. "Not helping mom, really not helping."

"Well it sure shocked these two," Orion said looking to Amalia and Star who had yet to respond until Marco walked over and shook them both by their shoulders a little.

"Huh! What!? What happened!?" they both said looking around frantically.

"You both kind of zoned out when you saw Marco here." Ishtar said teasingly to the two.

The two princesses looked to see their Latino friend standing in front of them in his new outfit.

"So? What do guys think?" Marco asked them.

"You look pretty awesome looking Marco, really." Amalia said patting him on his shoulder. "Yeah, you look like one of those shady looking assassins." Star said as she looked at Marco clothing.

"Uhh… thanks Star, I guess?" Marco said not sure how to respond to his friend's comments.

"Wait Marco, where did you get that sword there?" Amalia asked looking to said sword that was resting on Marco's right hip. "Oh, I got from a merchant while we were coming here." Marco said.

"And how did we not notice?" Star asked.

"Probably because you both were rushing to get to the castle?" Ishtar said shaking her head.

Soon everyone stepped through the gate and saw walkway that lead to an area of open plains.

"Once we enter Giza Plains it will take us about six hours to reach Starfall fields." Ghis said.

"Yeah… we're not doing that." Amalia said. "I've got a better idea," she said as she whistled loudly. No sooner after that, the familiar roar of Ratha was heard as the red wyvern landed in front of the group. "Hey boy, how'd you like to help take on a newly discovered elder dragon, huh?"

Ratha responded by roaring in and lowering himself so everyone could get on.

"You cannot be serious, princess." Ghis said. "If you feel like walking the six hours Ghis, no one's stopping you. Come on guys!" Amalia said as she climbed up onto Ratha's head.

"Right behind you, Amalia!" Star said as she grabbed Marco, ran over and quickly climbed up on Ratha's back while Sally, Gabranth and Zargabaath followed.

Ghis just sighed and groaned in frustration. "Fine, so long as we get there without incident." He said as he made his way over to join the others.

"Hold on!" Mr. Diaz said. "I have to get a picture of this." He said as he brought his camera up. He then pressed the button and took the picture. "Thank you, and stay safe."

"Got it!" they said as Ratha crouched and then took off into the sky with Star and Amalia shouting in exhilaration.

* * *

 **(Giza Plains, in route to Starfall Fields)**

As Ratha smoothly flew through the skies, everyone had gather on his back to go over their attack plan.

"So we know that this Valstrax monster can fly fast and can use its wings to attack close up and from far away. So how do we beat something like that?" Amalia asked.

"Hmm, well given the fact that it can change the direction it's flying as well, it's sounds pretty tough to pin it down." Sally said. "Also I did a little bit of digging into Valstrax, and we might want to make sure we beat it before it gets mad."

"Uhh, why should we do that and how do we tell when it's mad?" Marco asked. "First when we start seeing it's wings and head firing off draconic energy that's when it's mad." Sally said. "Second, if we get really mad things will get… bad."

"Bad as in?" Star asked. "Just… bad." Sally said.

"Bad as in seared to ashes or crushed into nothing?" Amalia asked her friend. "Umm… both?" "Okay, so everyone got that? Let's try to take this dragon out without getting it pissed." Amalia said.

"Wonderful," Ghis said as Ratha continued on to Starfall fields.

After about 2 ½ hours, the group saw the vast open area of Starfall fields come into view. It was littered with craters that looked like meteorites had fallen here long ago. Hence why the area was given tis name.

"Okay were here, any sign of our target?" Star said. "Star, it's kind of hard to see from way up here," Marco said. "And it's not like it's going to just give us a sign as to where - "

Suddenly a fearsome roar that sounded like a jet engine was heard, abruptly cutting Marco off form what he was saying.

"Uh, what was that?" Marco asked already dreading the answer. "I believe that would be our target," Zargabaath said, "It must be close by. We should start tracking it by foot."

"Roger that!" Amalia said as she patted Ratha on the back, telling him to land. Ratha began his descent towards an open field to let the group off. Once they we're on the ground, they started walking to where they heard the roar. They soon heard it again, but this time it sounded closer.

"Sounds like… it's coming from a bit to our right, this way." Amalia said leading the group west. They soon came across a vast open space.

"Guys, I can see something up ahead." Sally said pointing ahead. The others looked and indeed saw something.

It looked to be a slender quadrupedal creature covered in gleaming silver scales. Its back was lined with fin-like projections and there looked to be a crest at the top of its head. However, the most noticeable feature was the trident-like wings it had. They group could also see it had three horizontal gaps on its chest.

"I believe we've found our mark." Ghis said. "And it appears it hasn't noticed us yet."

"So… how are we doing this?" Star asked. "I vote for a head on attack." "Same here," Amalia said in agreement.

"Guys? That might not be the… best course of action." Marco said. "I'm in agreement, that's the very definition of reckless." Ghis said.

"Well does anyone else have any other ideas on how we do this then?" Amalia asked a bit too loudly.

"Amalia? You might want to keep your voice down. Or else it's going to spot us." Sally said as she noticed the elder dragon looking around, but otherwise remaining calm.

"Still though, it cannot remain here." Zargabaath said. "We may have to resort to a frontal assault that was suggested." He said which excited Star and Amalia.

"It seems so," Gabranth said. "In which case; Princess Amalia, can you have Ratha start with attacking the Valstrax from above? While it's distracted with that, we'll charge at and begin attacking." "Yeah, no problem." Amalia says as she turns and pets Ratha. "You hear that boy? We need you to get its attention, okay?"

Ratha nudged Amalia to confirm he understood, as he back away from the group and flew up as quietly as he could. When he was high enough, he let loose a mighty roar which got the Valstrax's attention right away. The elder dragon roared back as it turned its wings so they faced forward and fired off several crimson homing projectiles. Ratha let loosed a stream of flames at the projectiles, causing an explosion.

"Holy crap! It really can swing its wings around!" Amalia said excitedly as she summoned her sword. "Come guys! Time to see what this thing's really made of!" "Right behind you!" Star shouted as she and Amalia charged at the elder dragon.

"For the love of! They weren't even given the signal the attack yet!" Ghis shouted.

"Well Ratha attacking was the signal in a sense, Ghis." Gabranth said as he threw his weapons Chaos Blade and Highway Star. "Now stop your posturing and Charge!" he said as he rushed out and followed after Amalia and Star.

"It's good to see Gabranth still knowns what to expect from his student." Zargabaath said as he too threw his two blades. "Come Marco, stay close to me and watch." "R-right!" Marco said as he threw Sutādoragonburēdo and followed Zargabaath to the battle.

"I swear," Ghis groaned as he threw his sword and crescent spiked weapon. "You people will be the death of me one day!" he shouted as he too charged.

 **(** **Monster Hunter XX - Valstrax Theme)**

" **Sapphire Spike Edge!" "Honey Bee Tornado Swarm!"** Amalia and Star shouted as they both fired their spells at Valstrax. However, it quickly noticed the incoming attacks and fired off a stream of energy while its wings were still facing forward, allowing it to quickly evade both Star and Amalia's spells as well as Ratha's flames. "What the! How did it see our spells coming!" Star asked. "No clue, but I'm not letting that get to me!" Amalia said as she charged at Valstrax again.

Valstrax roared as it also charged at Amalia. When it saw she was close enough, it reared back one of its wings and shot out the razor sharp tip. Amalia quickly jumped to the side and fired off a blue slash wave. But Valstrax quickly retracted its wings and soon shot out the second one which broke through the slash wave and towards Amalia.

"Princess!" Gabranth shouted as quickly dashed in front of her as the jagged point came closer. Once he was in between Amalia and the jagged spearhead, Gabranth brought his two blades together as they started glowing. Just as the spear tip was about to hit, a red shield formed around the two deflecting the attack. Gabranth then quickly unlinked his weapons and swung Chaos Blade in front of him, hitting the elder dragon with an explosive slash.

"I could have blocked that just fine!" Amalia shouted. "Complain another time! Focus!" Gabranth said as he saw Valstrax charging at them. The two jumped away just as the dragon snapped its jaws at them. "Fine! Watch this then!"

Amalia then charged at Valstrax's side, her sword at the ready. The dragon saw this and swiftly brought its wing spear up ready to pierce Amalia into the ground.

"I don't think so!" Amalia said as she quickly jumped and twisted her body to the side as the spear head of the wing came down at her. She then ran up and jumped high above Valstrax with her sword glowing white. **"Moon Halo Rain Shots!"** Amalia shouted as she summoned dozens of white halos and swung her sword down, launching them at her target below. Valstrax pointed its wings upward and fired a large amount of projectiles to meet Amalia's spell in a clash of white and crimson. "Star! Sally!" Amalia shouted.

Star and Sally come rushing at Valstrax from the front who sees them, but is unable to do anything to stop their attack.

" **Shooting Star Explosion!"** Star shouted as she fired a storm of stars from her wand at the elder dragon. Sally summoned her grimoire and jumped into the air. **"Sword Magic: Blade Wings!"** Two sets of purple swords then appear on both sides of Sally. "And now, **Sword Magic: Falling Star Blades!** " The swords then shoot towards Valstrax at high speed and crash into it along with Star's spell, heavily hurting the creature and causing it to stop firing from its wings which in turned allowed Amalia's spell to hammer it more.

"Oh my Gosh! So that's what that armor can do! So cool!" Star said as Sally landed next to her. "I told you there's more to it than how it looks." Sally said.

"Nice work guys," Amalia said as she ran up to her friends. "We hit him from the front and from above." "But was it enough?" Sally asked.

Her question was answered when the force of a piercing roar pushed the three back and cleared the dust cloud away, reveling a very enraged Valstrax with its wing jets and head crest flaring with draconic energy.

"Now… it's mad. Which is bad." Sally said.

Meanwhile, Marco, Zargabaath, and Ghis could see the enraged elder dragon from under a barrier that Ghis had cast to avoid being swept up in the aftermath of all the attacks that were flying.

"That beast truly is among the ranks of the elder dragons," Ghis said as he dropped the barrier.

"True," Zargabaath said. "It withstood that barrage of attacks and barely shows any sign of injury. This battle may be more difficult than we thought."

Marco suddenly dashed forward, drawing his weapon.

"What in the name! What are you doing boy!?" Ghis said in surprise. "The others are in danger! I'm not going to just stand around!" Marco yelled as he continued running towards his friends.

"The boy speaks the truth, come Ghis!" Zargabaath shouted running after Marco with Ghis following as well.

Amalia, Star and Sally quickly got back up after being knocked back. But they didn't have time to sortie as Valstrax came gliding at them super quick.

"Move!" Amalia shouted as they jumped out of the way of the speeding dragon. It then flipped it's glowing red wings forward and ran at Star who didn't see it coming at her.

"Star! Watch out!" Sally shouted.

"Huh?" Star said as she saw the dragon charging at her. She raised her wand to cast a spell, but Valstrax quickly closed the gap between them and reared one of its wings back ready to claw her in two. ' **I can't cast a spell in time!** '

"Star! Watch out!"

Star was suddenly flung out of the way just as Valstrax swiped the spot where she was standing. Star then felt someone holding onto her, she opened her eyes and saw she was on top of Marco.

"Marco!" Star said. "You okay, Star?" Marco asked. "Y-yeah, thanks for that Marco," Star said smiling as she got off of Marco and helped him up. "Anytime," he said as Amalia and Sally joined them.

"Good save Marco," "Yeah, nice timing." They both said.

"Thanks guys," Marco said. "Now how do we beat this thing!?"

Valstrax then ran towards the four and stared swinging its red tipped wings at then forcing them all to jump back and dodge.

"Let's just focus on avoiding getting clawed to pieces right now!" Amalia said as she and the others continued dodging the elder dragon's attacks. "Also how many more surprises does this thing have!?"

"Clear the way!" Gabranth shouted as he came rushing in passed the four while also dodging one of Valstrax's claw swipes, both his blades glowing. " **Retribution's Blade!** " he shouted as he began slashing at the dragon's face while dodging its bite attacks. " **You will be judged!** " Gabranth then swung Highway Star from the right, striking Valstrax's eye. " **I'll Cleave you!** " Gabranth roars as he swings the crimson glowing Chaos Blade, which struck Valstrax with enough force that is actually pushed it back.

Zargabaath and Ghis watched as Gabranth had pushed the dragon back.

"It would seem Gabranth has not let his skill lessen while on earth either." Ghis said. However, Zargabaath could detect the traces of envy in his fellow judge's voice. "Is that jealously I hear in your tone, Ghis?" he asked playful jabbing in his voice. "Hmph, hardly." Ghis said as he placed his sword on his hip and began channeling magic into his hand that formed white sphere as he walked towards Valstrax while its preoccupied with the others. "I merely find his way of battling not to my liking is all. If an opponent cannot be bested up close," the sphere then floated from Ghis's hand splitting into three smaller spheres inside of an orange circle, "It's best to utilizes ranged attacks, no?" "True enough," Zargabaath said coming up next to Ghis. He then raised his blade into the air as blue sphere appeared above him.

Valstrax roared in anger at the four youths and Judge Magister.

"Okay, first off, Gabranth that was so cool how you just ran up and attacked like that!" Star said excitedly. "I could barely see which attack was coming from." "I'm pleased that I impressed you, Princess Star." Gabranth said. "Yeah you did. Now second, how are we going to beat this thing?" Star said. "It seriously looks like it wants to kill us."

"Maybe because it wants to kill us Star!" Marco said.

"Um guys?" Sally said. "We might want to get out of the way." "Yeah, like right now." Amalia added as she whistled for Ratha to come pick them up.

"Uh Amalia? Sally?" Marco said. "That's going to be hard to do with this dragon right in front of – What that heck!?" he said when he looked over at where Amalia and Sally were looking. Star and Gabranth looked also and saw that Ghis and Zargabaath were preparing to attack.

"So cool!" Star said over the moon with excitement. "And dangerous, let's get some distance!" Gabranth said as Ratha landed in right by them. As soon as they were all on board, Ratha shot into the air. Seeing this, Valstrax prepared to chase after them, but glanced to its left and saw why its prey had fled. Before it could anything else, Ghis pointed his spiked weapon forward as Zargabaath did the same with his sword, firing their respective spells at the elder dragon that couldn't do a thing as two beams of blue flames and white light slammed into it.

Star, Marco, Amalia, Sally, and Gabranth watched from atop Ratha as the two attacks hit their mark.

"Holy Crap!" Amalia said. "Mom told us to drive it off, not blast it into next year!" "Calm yourself Princess," Gabranth said. "From the look of those attacks, I'd say at least Zargabaath was holding back. I'm not too sure about Ghis though," "I swear, if Ghis ended up killing it, I am going to- "Amalia's titrate was cut off as a speeding red comet zoomed past, nearly knocking Ratha out of the sky as it sped away into the distance. "Yes! Never mind, we're good. It's still alive!" Amalia cheered.

"And how is that good?" Marco asked confused. "It's because now we have a chance of finding it again. And you can bet it will be even stronger." Amalia explained. "What!?" Marco said. "That's – "

"Awesome!" Star and Sally shouted happily. "Next time we come here, my spells will be ten times… no, a hundred times stronger!" "I may get a chance to do even more research on it!"

"You guys are… un-believable." Marco said as Gabranth laughed slightly.

 **(Song End)**

Ratha then landed back on the ground, which was barely recognizable due to it being scorched up.

"That was amazing you two!" Amalia said as she ran up to the two Judge Magisters. "Nice to see you guys haven't lost your touch."

"You humbles us, Princess." Zargabaath said bowing. "I was not sitting on my lories, Princess. I am Judge Magister after all." Ghis said.

"More like Judge Showoff if you ask me." Sally whispered to Marco and Star making them both laugh. "Is there something you three find funny?" Ghis asked. "Oh nothing, right guys?" Sally said.

"Yeah nothing, right Star?" Marco asked. "Yeah don't worry it's noth- whoa!" Star said as she tripped and fell on her face.

"Are you alright, Princess?" Gabranth said. "Yeah, I'm fine." Star said. "I think my foot just got caught on something."

"Like a root?" Sally asked. "No, it feels more… like a rock maybe?" Star said as she tried to describe what she tripped over. "Make that tow rocks? Hold on, Marco, help me out here." With Marco's help, Star began digging up whatever she tripped over from the ground. The two then pulled out what looked to be two oval-shaped rocks. One had blue triangle markings on it, while the other had red triangle markings. Amalia, Zargabaath and Ghis soon came over to see what was going on.

"What did you guys find?" Amalia asked. "Me and Marco found these two rocks I tripped over." Star said as she and Marco showed Amalia what they found. Amalia looked closer at the rocks before her eyes widened in surprise. "Star?" Amalia said. "These, are not rocks." "They're not?" Star asked.

"Then what are they?" Marco asked.

Amalia scratched the back of her head before speaking. "These… are eggs."

"…. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Everyone shouted.

* * *

After they had reported the results of their battle to Okita, got changed and checked for minor scrapes and everything, Star, Marco, Amalia, Sally, were back at the western Aerodrome along with Marco's parents and Gabranth as they were getting ready to go back to earth.

"I'm really going to miss this place now," Star said. "Come on now Star," Amalia said placing her arm around her. "It's not like we're never going to come back to visit. So don't sound so sad." She said. "Plus, not only do you and Marco get to keep the armor my parents let you use, you both get the chance to raise two baby elder dragons." Amalia said pointing to the carrier case Star was holding that held her egg.

"Amalia's right Star," Marco said walking over to his two friends while carrying his own case that held his egg. "It's not like we're saying goodbye forever. It's more like see you again soon." He said placing a hand on Star's shoulder.

"Thanks you guys, your right." Star said really appreciating what Marco and Amalia were saying to make her feel better.

Soon everyone else came over getting ready to board the atomos. Illya and Ishtar quickly ran over and jumped into Amalia's arms and hugged her tight.

"Next time you come and visit, you better take us on and adventure." Ishtar said. "Yeah, with Star and Marco too! There really fun to have around." Illya said as she and Ishtar let go of Amalia and ran over to the two. Illya hugged Star who eagerly returned it, while Ishtar held her arms out to Marco who kindly hugged her.

"Aw, we think you guys are a lot fun to be around too," Star said as she hugged Illya. "Thank you, and Marco? Make sure Star and my big sister don't go over-board with anything, please?" Ishtar said which got Marco laughing a bit.

"Don't worry, I'll make keep a close eye on them." Marco said which made Ishtar giggle as Marco let her go.

"Well it was nice meeting all of you," Orion said. "Amalia, make sure to keep up with your training and Gabranth's teachings, okay?" "Got it dad." Amalia said rolling her eyes playfully.

"Sally and Gabranth? Make sure Amalia stays out of trouble and be sure to take care of yourselves too." Okita said which made her daughter groan.

"Of course your highness," "As you wish," they both said.

Amalia then hugged her parents one more time before boarding the atomos with others as her family waved goodbye.

"Oh, oh no!" Illya said which got Ishtar's attention. "What is it Illya?" "Star told me she was looking for presents to give to Marco's parents for their anniversary. She said she got one for his mom, but I think she forgot to get one for his dad." Illya explained. "Well we can't do anything about that now, their already gone!" Ishtar said.

"Don't worry you two," Okita said getting her two daughter's attention. "Your father here took care of it." "What? He did!?" they both said looking to their father.

"Yep, I overheard Illya talking to Star about the subject, so I gave Mr. Diaz an artist workbook." Orion said. "Why'd you give him that?" Ishtar asked. "Mr. Diaz and I talked while Amalia and the others were off dealing with the new elder dragon, and he told me that he has a thing for doing artwork."

"Oh I see," Illya said. "He must have been really happy." "Yes he was," Orion said before looking to Okita. "I'm still a bit surprised you let Amalia bring her friends on that mission. Especially Marco, since I'm pretty sure that kid didn't plan on fighting a dragon on his parent's anniversary."

Okita giggle a little before answering. "Well I had a feeling he's be alright, considering the outfit I gave him." "Speaking of that outfit," Orion said. "Isn't that the one that you… wait, you really?" he asked to which Okita just smiled and nodded her head. "I'm not even going to ask why you did it, I'm just going to hope that it works out. Considering what a pain in the neck that pipsqueak was." Orion groaned as he started to walk away with Okita hooking her arm to his and their two daughters following.

* * *

 **(Earth dimension, Diaz residence)**

After the atomos dropped them off and headed back to Draclord, everyone headed into the house while Gabranth took Ratha and Saber to the backyard. Marco's parents thanked their son, Star, and Sally for the little party and their gifts, and also thanked Amalia for the trip to her dimension before heading up to bed. The four then plopped onto the couch.

"Well Marco, I think this is one anniversary your parents won't ever forget." Amalia said smiling. "True, not a lot of kids can say they brought their parents to a kingdom in another dimension." Marco said.

"Plus we got cool armor and baby dragon eggs too!" Star said happily. "Yeah…" Marco said before looking over to Amalia. "Is there like a book on how to care for baby elder dragons?"

"Nope," Amalia said grinning. "You and Star are on your own with that Marco." "Great," Marco sighed as Star, Amalia and Sally laughed.

"Okay, I'm going to bed now." Sally said getting up from the couch. "I want to get up bright and early so I can start doing some more research on Valstrax." "And I want to find the perfect place to put my egg." Star said as she and Sally went up stairs leaving Marco and Amalia alone.

"So Marco," Amalia started. "How was your first time seeing my dimension?" "Well aside from having to fight a newly discovered species of dragon, it was pretty cool." Marco said as Amalia snickered. "Glad to hear it," she said before looking out the window at the earth night sky. "To be honest with you Marco, your the first boy who I'm friends with." "Really?" Marco asked a bit surprised. "Yeah, any other boys back home are either scared off once they see that I fight or their just into me for how pretty I am. That's why I was never too into dating." Amalia said. "It wasn't until I met Opa, Kylar, and Cressa that I completely forgot about dating and just wanted to spend everyday with the friends who really understood me. That is until... you know," Amalia said in a more quiet and sad tone.

Marco then placed a hand on Amalia's shoulder.

"Is that why you haven't looked at the letter from Skylar?" Marco asked to which Amalia only nodded her head. "Well after meeting both Opa and Kylar, I think I can say at least Kylar may be trying to talk to you again. she just... can't seem to do it in front of Opa. So maybe think about it and maybe see what her letter says. after that you can figure out the rest." Amalia sighed before looking back at Marco with a soft smile. "Okay, I'll think about." she said as she rested her head on Marco's shoulder which surprised him. "Uh..." "Just to let you know, your carrying me up if I fall asleep since your so comfy." She said teasingly as Marco rolled his eyes playfully.

Meanwhile up in Marco's room, where the outfit he received from Okita sat on his bed ( **Neatly folded** ). The badge on it gave of a soft glow as a tiny voice was heard with no one hearing it.

" _ **Hehe, you really do like people at first glance huh, Okita?**_ " the voice said in a playful female tone. " _ **I'm just worried you may have given me someone I might not want to give up to anyone. Even if the person is your hot-headed daughter, this boy is pretty cute.**_ " It said. " _ **Oh well, we'll just have to see what happens.**_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! And I hope you all like visiting Amalia's Dimension it was a really fun writing about the world my character came from. Anyway, sorry this took so long Me and Mario are only human. We are not machine that can pump out chapters super fast. If we were, they probably wouldn't be anywhere as good as they are. Any who, again sorry for the late chapter, hope you all have a fantastic day See You! ;)**

 **A/N2: Hey, just a heads up, me and Mario may be doing the two at once thing for chapters now. Just wanted to let you guys know, okay, bye! ;D**


	13. Chapter 13: Uninvited

**A/N: Wah-wah-wah, unlucky number 13. This** ** _Star vs._** **Episode is tied for the shortest runtime out of all the episodes so far. So this chapter's a bit sgorter than my previous ones and, since I don't have much to go from, it will be quite a bit different. Anyway, you've waited long enough! Don't wanna keep you waiting any more! Just review responses real quick...**

 _ **Guest 1 - I will definitely listen to your suggestion; it's definitely something that I/we can improve on. I actually took this review into account on this chapter, which is 90% Star-focused POV!**_

 _ **Sabaku no Icaru - Tom aparecerá muy pronto; problamente aparecerá por la primera vez en el capítulo de "Blood Moon Ball". Si no entiendes mi mal español ;) : Tom will probably make his first appearance in "Blood Moon Ball."**_

 _ **Guests 2 and 3 - Apologies! This one did take me quite a while to write, with the holidays and such, although I feel like I say something to that effect every time. The truth is simply that I'm a slow writer with a busy life, and I'm sorry about that. I know I' ve mentioned this once before, but I usually have chapter publish-date approximations on my bio page (Mario and BFDI Bros)**_

 **Anyway, here it is!**

* * *

Chapter 13: Uninvited

* * *

Star was the first up that morning. She sat straight up and practically jumped out of bed, racing over to her new wyvern egg. She'd taken the one with the blue marks and left the red one for Marco, which was in his room. She inspected it with awe, picking it up gingerly and rotating it. Then she saw something. It was a slender crack forming on the egg, running vertically from about halfway down the egg to near the bottom. She gasped in excitement, almost forgetting to set the egg down gently before racing over to Amalia's bed.

She wasn't there. Star frowned. She was almost invariably up before Amalia, who liked to sleep in until at least nine. Then she shrugged; Amalia simply must've woken up early that day. Her previous vigor renewed, she rushed down the stairs, just catching herself from toppling down head over heels. And then she froze when she saw what was in the room. Amalia and Marco asleep in the couch together, Amalia's head resting on Marco's shoulder and using it like a pillow. And she had a big fat smile plastered on her face.

 _Awww, they look kinda cute together_. But something about that thought left a bad taste in her mouth. Before she could stop herself, she called out in a dangerous tone, "Marco! Amalia!"

* * *

Marco awoke with a start at the sound of his name. For a fraction of a second, he saw a very angry Star, but before he could blink she seemed to be back to her usual cheeriness, if not a bit skeptical.

Then he realized why. He was still on the couch, with Amalia on top of him, just now beginning to stir. He remember her laying on him and telling him that he'd have to take her to bed if she fell asleep. And then… he must've fallen asleep too, he supposed.

"Oh…" was all that came out.

Thankfully, Amalia had sense enough to jump off of me hurriedly. "Oh Carrot, sorry Marco. Usually I do that to my stuffed Ratha, and I guess you were just the closest thing…" she said, embarrassed.

"Yeah, I must've been more tired than I thought. Sorry."

Some sort of emotion still lingered behind Star's twinkling blue eyes, but he couldn't quite discern it. Anger? Confusion? Just plain weirded-outness? But he doubted there was anything he could do to quell it entirely. "So…" Marco pronounced awkwardly.

"Oh, right!" Star shouted. "Amalia! I have something to show you!"  
All three of them were relieved for something to break the tension. Amalia raced upn after Star, Marco following right behind her. As the two girls gathered around Star's egg, Marco's thoughts began to drift back to his and Amalia's conversation last night:

" _I met Opa, Kylar, and Cressa… friends who really understood me… you know…"_

" _So maybe think about it… see what the letter says."_

" _Okay, I'll think about it…"_

He retrieved the slightly crumpled note, folded it up, and put it on Amalia's nightstand. Then he went to check on the egg. Before he got there, Amalia shouted to him excitedly, "Marco, go get Sally!"

Marco frowned. The last time he had tried that, it hadn't worked out so well for him. "I don't want to interrupt…"

"Tell her it's important. She'll want to come."

"Okay…"

He found Sally's room, inside which Sally was wearing a lab coat and dripping a clear liquid into a test tube full of green liquid. The mixture slowly began to turn red. Marco shrugged, supposing that this particular experiment wasn't too dangerous to interrupt, and walking in. "Hey, Sally—"

"Get back!" she shouted, cutting him off. She dove under her bed, but Marco was too surprised to respond. The mixture began to bubble, then boil, then it exploded, sizzling upon every surface it touched, including a little spot on his hair that he batted at wildly.

"Do I have a bald spot? Do I have a bald spot? Please tell me I don't have a bald spot…!"

"You don't," Sally assured him, emerging from her shelter. "Although you do need some better reflexes. Cationic mythril extract and dysprosium oganessonote are a pretty dangerous combo."

"Isn't oganesson the 118th element? It's, like, super radioactive, isn't it?"

"Usually. However, curiously, dysprosium and oganesson stabilize each other with an anticovalent bond. What I just performed is the reaction that occurs within the Valstrax's respiratory system. It gets dysprosium dioganessonote from ingesting tiny organisms that live deep inside the sand called Eagolotes. And this proves that mythril is a required reactant for the chemical reaction that yields the Valstrax's weapon breath. That means its scales are also probably mythril-infused, which is why it was so hard to beat. And what's more: did you notice that its breath projectile homed in on Ratha? Well, guess what? The resulting mythril-infused dysprosium ogenessonote, or as I call it, MIDO, is attracted to heats around 310 Kelvins, which is the average humanoid body temperature. That's why it exploded toward you. Wyvern temperatures are slightly higher, around 350 Kelvins, but close enough for it to lock on. MIDO is also an almost universal solvent, dissolving almost everything if you have enough of it. Or, as you proved, almost everything but hair, which can most likely be extended to fingernails and other dead proteins."

"So the way to guard against the Valstrax is with hair and fingernails?"  
Sally brightened. "Exactly!"

At that, Marco gave up. "Amalia wanted you to come. She said it was important and that you would want to see it." Sally was somehow out the door before he was, and he stumbled to catch up.

* * *

When they entered, Amalia asked them, "What took you so long?"

"Well," started Sally, "I was just telling Marco how…"

And she launched into the same unreasonably complicated description that she'd given Marco, only making his head hurt more.

"Oh…" Amalia responded once Sally had finished. "That's… cool."  
"Um… yeah. That!" Star added. "Anyway, I woke up this morning and noticed this crack in my egg."

She showed it to Sally, who took it and inspected it carefully and diligently. "You didn't drop it or anything, did you?"

Star shook her head. "I don't think so, at least."

"No, I believe you, this doesn't follow cleavage patterns of an egg. See, it's a straight line. It must be a claw."

This the other three were able to understand. "Oh my corn! Is my little baby dragon hatching?"

Sally seemed baffled. "I guess. But wyvern embryos don't begin to develop until they are dug up from the ground. For it to grow from a fetus to a larva so quickly… if there was any doubt it wasn't the egg of an elder wyvern, it's definitely gone."

"So, how long will it take to fully hatch?" Star asked hopefully.

"Six to eight days, I'd say."

Star despaired. "Sixty-eight days?"

"No, six _to_ eight days. Dash between."

"Oh. That's still a long time."

"Actually, that's _absurdly_ fast. It usually takes weeks or even months. Can take it to my lab—I mean, room—to look at it?"  
Star frowned. "Well…"

"Aw, c'mon, Star! Sally will be careful!" Amalia encouraged.

"Could we use… Marco's?" Star asked hopefully.

Sally shook her head. "This one has the crack. I'd rather examine this one."

"It's not big deal, Star. Sally will take care of it," Amalia pressed.

Despite a scowl, Star conceded, "Fine."

"Awesome!" Sally shouted, scooping up the egg and running off with it.

The three looked between each other with mixed emotions. Breaking the silence, Amalia's alarm rang. As she rushed to turn it off, she remembered, "Oh right, school."

In all the chaos, they'd forgotten to get ready, but Star had woken everybody earlier than usual, so they had just enough time. Two minutes before the bus was to arrive, they were at the door ready to leave. Angie and Rafael Diaz alternated in saying goodbyes:

"Goodbye Marco!"

"Have a good day, Amalia!"  
"Stay out of trouble, Star!"

They made it to the bus stop just as the last kid was getting on. The door started to close, but Amalia shouted, "I got this!" She flung her sword sideways, long end over long end, and stuck it right between the wall and the door. The bus driver, who'd narrowly avoided decapitation, looked terrified. The three ducked under Amalia's sword and entered, Amalia bringing up the rear. She dislodged her sword and said casually, "Good morning, Mr. Bus Driver!"

He nervously nodded in response.

They threaded through the aisle around stray backpacks and legs until they found two empty spots in the back. "Which one do we want?" Star asked, glancing back at the other two. But they were already sliding into one of them, and it was now that Star remembered that each seat only held two people. And the only other seat was across the aisle, three rows back, next to Brittney Wong, one of those… erm, _cheerleader_ girls, as they were called. Star wasn't quite sure what they did, but it seemed important. "Hi!" Star exclaimed as she sat down next to her.

Brittney pushed Star away. "Excuse me, this seat is _reserved_."

Star looked up in confusion. She was the only person left standing, and the bus was starting to accelerate. "For whom?"

Brittney scoffed. "Chantal, of course. Not YOU!"

Star frowned. "I don't think Chantal's coming. Meanwhile, you look like you could use a friend to sit with!"

"Absolutely not-"

But Star had already sat down, and the bus was now moving too fast to safely move. For a while, Star was silent, resting her chin on her hand and frowning as she watched Marco and Amalia chatter and laugh. Was that a redness coming to Amalia's face? Now she was fidgeting with her hair. Ugh! She told herself she was just imagining it, but she nevertheless decided to look away. Unfortunately for Brittney, she was Star's best distraction.

"Hey!" Star said, getting an idea, "You wanna see something?"

"Um, no-"

She flashed her wand at Brittney, and suddenly Brittney's hair was pulled back into a ponytail long enough that it should have been impossible with her original hair length. But there was one thing that wasn't quite right. Star cringed. Her hair was blindingly bright, phosphorescent green.

Brittney almost seemed pleased for a moment, feeling the ponytail Star had magically put her hair into. She drew it around and over her shoulder to examine it. She immediately yelped and fixed her glare on Star. " _Green_?! You made my hair _green_?!"

Star fidgeted with her wand. "Uhh… hehe, oops. Let me just…." she zapped Brittney several times, changing her hairstyle to pigtails, then a bun, followed by many things she couldn't even name, but her hair still didn't change color. Star finally relented, leaving a very unhappy Brittney with two long braids tied up into a neat fisherman's knot. And still green. "I'm sorry, Brittney. Let me think…"

Brittney just glared at her.

"Okay, verbal component should help. Umm…." She waved her wand. " _Returnus Colorus Hair_ —um— _Hairus_!"

Magic wrapped around Brittney, and when it dissolved into the air, Brittney's hair was back to its normal style and had lost its frightening color. Now the only problem was that it was blond.

"You made me a blonde?!" Brittney raged.

"I can try one more time, if you want…"

By now the bus was rolling to a stop. Brittney jumped out of her seat and pushed past Star. "No! I'm not letting you mess it up more again! Even if I have to be a blonde for the rest of the day!"

"But wait!" Star called, "It doesn't wear off…" but her attempt was futile.

As soon as Brittney passed Amalia and Marco, they burst out in hysterical laughter. They kept on laughing even as the bus stopped and everyone started getting off. Star just stared at them for a while with a confused and self-conscious frown. Finally, she told herself, _They were laughing at Brittney, not me_. She found herself repeating it over and over in her head, as if that would make her believe it more. But when she caught up with them, everything seemed to return to normal.

She didn't get that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach again until after the bell had rung and she, Amalia, and Marco were heading for the exit, where Brittney, blond hair and all, was passing out invitations.

"Wow, you changed your hair, didn't you?" said a passerby as she took an invitation.

"Yes, I dyed it!" Brittney lied. "Doesn't it look _gorgeous_?"

"Um… yeah," said the other girl before scampering away.

Amalia and Marco shared a stifled laugh, then the former began to approach Brittney. Marco, however, stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Wait, you don't actually want to go to Brittney's party, do you?"

Amalia shrugged in response. "A party's a party! C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"But… oh, alright."

They approached Brittney, Star only _ever_ so slightly hiding behind her two best friends. "Hey Brittney!" Amalia said cheerily. Continuing in her best gossip-girl voice, she continued, "OMG, Brittney I just _love_ what you've done with your hair! Don't get me wrong, I _envy_ your black hair too. I've been a bluenette all my life, but when I saw you wearing the blonde hair this morning, I considered dyeing it blonde! Do you think it would look nice on me, too?"

"No, it would look hideous on you."

Amalia faltered at the insult, although she looked as if she agreed. "Well… I was just stopping by to pick up an invitation to the _fabulous_ party I heard you're throwing!"

Brittney crossed her arms, seeing straight through it all. She glared at Amalia for a long uncomfortable while before finally saying, "Fine, you've gotten me into a good mood. Take one." She passed an envelope to Amalia, and to Marco as well with a begrudging "Fine, you too." But as soon as Star approached, Brittney gave her a nasty look and a "You just stop right there, _Star Butterfly_!" She spat Star's name like it was a pint of sour milk.

Despite Brittney's malice toward her, she tried, "Can I have an invitation too?"

Brittney looked around to see if anyone was nearby, and, seeing only Marco and Amalia with worried looks, turned to Star and whispered threateningly, "As much as I love all the complements I'm getting, I myself _despise_ the blond hair that _you_ so rudely stuck me with. So _no_ , you are _not_ coming to my party to further ruin my image."

Star blinked uncomfortably at the harsh words, not quite sure how to respond. "O-Okay, I'll… um…" she stepped around Brittney and dashed away to the safety of her friends, the three of them making their way out of sight before daring to speak.

Amalia spat on the ground as if trying to get rid of the bad taste she'd gotten from talking to Brittney. "I almost reconsidered getting an invitation at all when she was so rude about my hair. Although, honestly, she's not wrong; I'd look terrible as a blonde." She shivered slightly at the thought. "But still, you don't just _say_ things like that."

"That's what I was trying to warn you about," Marco said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, and what was that whole cool-girl persona? You're a really good actor!" Star mentioned with a laugh.

"Yeah, I mean, I say you can be friends with anyone if you act a certain way around them. Of course, the ones you don't have to change for are the ones worth keeping. But if you can make someone happy by saying something to them you ordinarily wouldn't…" she shrugged. "I guess that's why I managed to get along with Opa for so long." A look crossed her face but quickly disappeared. "Well, at least we can all just go, avoid Brittney, and have a good time!" she said, changing the subject. "I heard Janna'd be there. And Jackie…." She gave Marco a knowing look.

"Wait, but I didn't get one! She refused to give it to me because of the hair incident," Star told them. They must have been out of earshot.

"Oh," Marco said, looking concerned. "Well, you can probably get in. It's not like they're going to be checking invitations at the door.

* * *

" _Invitations_ will _be checked at the door in order to maintain the privacy of this event. Please do not try to smuggle in friends that have not been invited_ ," Marco read from his invitation.

"Oh," said Star defeatedly. "I… I had other plans for today, anyway."  
"Ooh, what are you doing?" Amalia asked excitedly.  
"Oh, umm…" Star struggled to make something up, "it's… a secret?"

"Are you sure, Star?" Marco asked, again seeming quite concerned.

"Yeah… but if you think of a way that I can go, then—"

"Wait, I've got it!" shouted Amalia.

Ten minutes later, they had a makeshift invitation, complete with the pink paper and the scrawly handwriting that probably wasn't Brittney's anyway.

"Do you really think this will work?" said Star eagerly.

Amalia held her invitation next to Star's, and Star couldn't tell them apart. "I think so," she assured.

* * *

Star was practically bouncing with nerves as they approached the clearly marked bus in the parking lot that the invitations had led them to. There was an actual black-suit-and-tied, sunglass-adorned _bodyguard_ standing outside the bus (even though it was already dark out). "Invitations, please?" he said in a low, gruff voice.

Amalia walked though confidently, not even stopping when she gave him her invitation. Marco must've a bit more intimidated by the guard because he froze when the guard was checking his invitation. "Good," the guard finally said, and waved him through.

And then it was Star's turn. She handed the guard her fake invitation a held her breath, for some reason petrified in place. He stared at it for quite a while, then finally cleared his throat and said, "Clever, but a fake nonetheless. This paper is nowhere near the same weight as the invitations, done on card stock." He moved to block her path. "Go home. No uninvited guests are allowed to attend.

"But…" she thought quickly, trying to find a loophole, "I… got dropped off here! I live outside the town, and it'd take me hours to walk!"

He shrugged. No response.

It was at that point that she finally gave up all hope of getting past the bodyguard.

"Um, Marco? Amalia? I guess I'm going back home."

"Wait!" shouted Marco, but the bodyguard blocked him too.

"Guests are requested by Brittney to stay the duration of the party. She sees leaving early as a sign of… disrespect."

Marco's face fell, and Amalia looked pretty upset too. "See you after the party, I guess," she said with a sorry frown.

"Yeah…" Star backed away, then began walking home. She kicked rocks on the sidewalk bitterly as she went.

* * *

Back inside the party bus, Amalia shrugged. "I guess we better make the most of it."

They turned around to find over a dozen faces staring absently as if they were bored out of their minds. In the corner, two girls began chatting, but with in seconds, Brittney screeched from some unseen place on the bus, "Quiet, you people! I have to concentrate!"

"What could she possibly be doing?" Amalia said to Marco, barely above a whisper.

"I said _shut up_!"

Amalia balled her fists but didn't say anything more.

Marco, always thinking on his feet, pulled out his phone and wrote out a text, then showed it to her: **Idk. But shes really getting on my nerves. And every1 here looks so depressed. Weird.**

She grabbed the phone, deleted what he wrote, and typed: **I really wish we hadnt come at all!**

— **I did warn u…**

— **Ya, sry. U deserve to tell me 'I told u so' as much as u want. :D**

— **I feel bad about Star tho…**

— **We did the best we could**

— **Ignatia**

 ***Ig as in 'I guess' dang autocorrect**

"Ignatia!?" Amalia exclaimed aloud, laughing. "What even is that?" She quickly covered her mouth as everyone in the room looked at her in shock. "Aw, Wrin—"

She was cut off by Brittney appearing in a purple dress with a "Ta-da!" No one moved, but Brittney still said, "All right, all right, that's enough applause…. Okay, now who's ready to get. This. Party. Started!"

This evoked a cheer.

"So… what exactly are we doing?" a voice said from the crowd, which turned out to be Janna, as she looked around with a bored expression. Murmurs of agreement followed.

"Well…"—Britney paused dramatically—"you all get to be in my presence for a whole two hours! Isn't that exciting!?"

There was a resounding "Umm…"

Brittney frowned. "I _said_ , isn't that exciting?!"

This time everyone mustered up a halfhearted cheer. The bus started rolling and any chance at escape was gone.

* * *

Star arrived at the empty Diaz household. Marco and Amalia—of course—were at Brittney's party, and Mr. and Mrs. Diaz had seen and taken a well-deserved opportunity for a night out. Sally and Gabranth were nowhere to be found. The house was rarely empty, what with all its usual inhabitants, which made the vacancy all the more oppressing. Star sat on the couch and searched around for the TV remote. Finding it, she pressed some buttons, but nothing happened. Sighing disappointedly, she climbed the stairs to her room to look at the dragon egg, before remembering that Sally had taken it to her room. She made it to Sally's door and tread lightly into the room, being as careful as her hyperactive self could be. Sally had left things all over the floor, and Star knew that, in this treacherous area, one trip could cause an entire explosion. It was nearly in reach: one more step and she'd be able to touch it…"

Then her foot caught on some scientific instrument that she didn't recognize, and she fell face-first to the floor, brushing the egg as she did so. It wobbled back and forth, then finally toppled off the table it sat on. Even from her prostrate position, Star managed to dive for it and just caught it on her fingertips. She looked at it for a bit but didn't see any significant change in it, so she replaced it on the table. Looking back at her journey to the exit, she decided to open a portal instead.

Stepping out, she landed in a wintry dimension she didn't recognize. That's the kind of thing that happens when one opens a portal without a clear destination. Snow flurried all around her, and for miles and miles there were only snow-covered mountain. She shivered; the temperature was well below freezing. She looked around for a place that would keep her out of the wind. Despite the extreme cold, this place was interesting and beautiful, and she didn't want to leave just yet. She spotted a cave in the side of a mountain near her and made for it.

It was dark inside; visibility was no more than five feet at best, and it became worse as she continued. Eventually, her foot kicked something—several somethings, in fact—that skittered across the floor. When she looked down, she saw they were twigs, likely from an abandoned bonfire. She rearranged the sticks, then shouted, " _Inferno Totalo!"_

Nothing happened.

Star sighed and did the stupid "dance" Glossaryck had taught her to do with the spell and tried to remember the pronunciation. " _INferno ToTAlo!"_

Star was quite sure she had gotten it perfect this time, yet, again, no flames shot from her wand. She looked at it with a frown, tapped it with her hand, and tried something else: " _Super Narwhal Blast_!"

Again, nothing.

Finally, it came together for her: _she couldn't use magic in this dimension._ "Better get outta here before I run into trouble," Star muttered, reaching for her scissors. They were gone. Beginning to panic, she started running things through her head: _Did I leave it behind at the house? No, I cut the portal with them, and I don't remember dropping them…_

There was a crash from behind her, which sent her scrambling toward the entrance of the cave, loud footsteps that shook the whole cavern following behind her. Just as she reached the snow outside, she managed to make out what was following her. It was some kind of giant snow monster. And from its fingers dangled her dimensional scissors. The monster must've swiped her scissors somehow. It didn't seem to be speaking coherently, so she figured talking it out wasn't an option. Reaching for her wand, she remembered that it was useless. She patted herself down, trying to find anything that'd be useful. Then her hand felt something: her compact. Maybe magic couldn't help her, but she knew her friends could: Marco had some awesome karate moves, and Amalia could kick some monster butt even without her magic. If her wand didn't work, it was a long shot that that her compact would, but she dialed Amalia's compact number, hoping against all hope that it would go through. She hit call.

"Please, please, please…"

Then a voice came from her mirror: "You are in a location without a strong magical signal. This may be due to a magical barrier. You may experience roaming charges while calling from this area. Continue?"

"Yes!" she practically screamed into the phone.

"I'm sorry, you don't have authentication to be charged roaming fees."

Stupid parental controls. "Override! It's an emergency!" The snow monster was getting closer, and Star began backing away.

"Password?"

"Starlight372." Star smirked. It was her mom's password for _everything._

"Calling Amalia…" (Her compact pronounced it "a-may-lee-uh" which always made her giggle.)

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

Four rings.

Five rings.

"Hi! This is Princess Amalia Dalmasca. Sorry I couldn't accept your call at the moment; I'm probably fighting a wyvern or something. Anyway… leave a message and I'll get back to you!"

Ugh. She hung up and quickly dialed Marco's number. He picked up almost immediately. "Marco! Thank Corn! I'm in a bit of trouble here, if you could come ASAP, I'm in some snowy dimension with no magic…"

The only response was a bunch of staticky noises and a muffled "Hey! Give that back!" Then the call ended.

At the same time, the snow monster pounced. Originally backpedaling, Star turned and broke into a sprint, but it was difficult with the heavy snow that coated the ground, which enveloped her foot every time she took a step, forcing her to tug it free. The whole time, there was the deafening _crunch_ of giant feet walking through the snow, which was closing in with every second. But she didn't dare look back—

Just as a claw swiped at her, Marco and Amalia tumbled out of a newly formed portal, crashing into her and knocking her out of the way of the snow monster's grasp.

"Is that the abominable snowman?" Marco questioned in shock.

"You came!" Star shouted, hugging her friends the best she could while sprawled on her stomach in the snow.

"Of course!" Amalia assented. "Brittney was trying to take our—move!"

The snow creature had lunged again. Amalia and Star rolled out of the way, but Marco stood his ground and inflicted a well-placed kick into their opponent's palm, the pain inflicted causing it to not crush Marco and drop the dimensional scissors. Star dove for them, cutting a portal as quickly as she could. "C'mon!"

They all tumbled through the portal and back into Brittney's party bus. Because the bus was moving beneath them, they were thrown toward the back of the bus but landed safely with Amalia's Cushion Charm, which made a giant pillow appear right beneath them.

"Hey," Star started, "thanks for… coming for me."

"Of course!" said Marco. "You were in trouble."  
"I mean, I figured you were probably having a bunch of fun here and wouldn't wanna leave—"

Amalia broke in: "Even if that were true,of course we'd come help you! But we _definitely_ weren't having fun…"

Star glanced at everyone around them, the only one seeming to be enjoying themselves at all was Brittney. Oh, and Janna, who was pickpocketing the former as she watched.

As they sunk into the fluffiness, Star gasped. "I just got the perfect idea. Amalia, more pillows!"

Amalia seemed to catch on, making about ten more pillows appear. They stared each other down. "One."

"Two."

"Three."

"PILLOW FIGHT!"

Soon everyone joined in due to a lack of other preoccupation. Of course, Brittney was screaming the whole time about how she didn't approve, or someone stepping on her, or it being too loud. But her whining was drowned out by the clamor of fun.

* * *

 ** _Diaz Residence, 2:00 AM_**

"I'm sorry, Opa, I just thought maybe…"

"I don't care what you thought. She and I are never going to be friends again, and that means you and she will never be friends again either. I don't want her reading that!"

"I… okay, I'll go get it, just…"

The light-blue-haired girl backed through a portal into Marco's room. Her hair, like a shamed dog's tail, was sad and limp instead of her usual energized, sparking, and lively. Like a battered flag without a breeze. She stumbled about in the dark room, eventually making a loud, dull sound as her shin struck the wooden frame of Marco's bed. She stifled a shout of pain and rubbed her leg, but it had been enough to wake Marco.

In an instant, Marco was out of bed and ready to karate-chop her head off. She held her hands out in a sign of peace. "Shhh! Marco, it's me! Skylar!"

As Marco's eyes adjusted, he began to recognize her. "What are you doing here?"  
"I need that note back. The one I gave to Amalia."

Marco seemed to become defensive at that. "Why?"

"Has she read it?"

The answer came out of Marco's mouth before he could decide whether to say it or not. "No."

That seemed to be the answer she'd been hoping for, but she wasn't exactly relieved. "Where is it?"

Marco reluctantly decided to cooperate. "Amalia's room. This way."

He quietly led her down the hall to Amalia and Star's shared room. "That's Star, isn't it?" the Princess of Meterolia breathed.

"Yeah. You know her?"

"I compacted her once, on accident"—Marco reminded himself to mentally replace "compacted" with "called"—"she was using Amalia's compact to call someone, I think."

"Oh, right," Marco thought, thinking back to the day Star had wanted Oskar to call her.

They made it to Amalia's nightstand without incident, and Skylar opened the note, reading it to herself. A sad smile emerged on her face as she examined it. "Do… do you have a camera?"  
"Yeah," Marco whispered in reply, taking out his phone.

"Maybe you should take a picture of it… just in case. I didn't tell you to do it, of course."

Marco nodded, understanding her dilemma. He snapped a photo of the paper just before the signature became blurred by a tear. "Is Opaline making you take this back?"

She didn't respond, but her answer was conveyed nonetheless.

"I'll try to get Amalia to reach out to you, all right?"  
He was suddenly enveloped in a hug. "Thank you." She stepped back and sniffled. "Gosh, I can't believe I'm crying, this is so unlike me."

"I hope you and Amalia become friends again."

Like a sunrise clearing away a cloudy night, a smile lit up her face. "I have a feeling… that everything will work out, some way or another. And I'm usually right."

"Goodbye," Marco said.

"Goodbye."

With a wave of her lightning bolt, she was gone.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, I don't think that was my best chapter, but at least I got is out! See you for Pixtopia!**

 **-M &BFDIB **


	14. Chapter 14: Mewberty vs Dragovolution

**Hey People What's up! I'm here again to bring you that Star and Amalia goodness you all like so much! This chapter is to the embarrassment of both Star and Amalia is built around the episode Mewberty. Now as we all know from that episode, Star was going through her dimension's version of puberty. Except her version involved a lot more boy snatching. Well Star's going to be going through that here as well; only Amalia will be having the same issues too, so expect even more wilder stuff!**

 **Chapter 14: Mewberty vs Dragovolution**

It was yet another day at Echo Creek High. Star, Marco and Amalia's art had just ended, so they were getting ready to move on to their next class of the day when Amalia noticed Marco had the badge from the outfit her mother gave him on his backpack.

"Hey Marco, how come you have the badge from my mom's outfit on your bag?" "Oh this? I figured I'd try to give it a little something. It's kind of like I'm always carrying a piece of your home with me, that probably sounds weird huh?" "I don't think so; I think it shows that you want to always remember the fun times you had there. In fact; that's what I do whenever I go someplace new, it helps remind me of the memories I made there." Amalia said which made Marco feel better about placing the badge on his bag. "Wow Amalia, that was… really insightful. In the case, I hope you find something to remember your fun times here on earth." Marco said smiling which made Amalia's face heat up as she threw the hoodie of her cochaka up to cover her face. "W-well, I'm just saying what I feel is all, haha." Amalia said nervously laughing. "Anyway, we should get going." "Right; Star, come on." Marco said but Star remained at the window with a dreamy look on her face.

Amalia walked over to see what had her friend so distracted. She looked out the window and saw Oskar Greason playing his keytar while sitting on his car in the parking lot.

"Oh brother, well at least it sounds like he's playing better. Not like the screeching mess I heard him play before." Amalia said which snapped Star out of her staring. "Come on Amalia; I know you're not a fan of Oskar's music right now. But just give it time, I'm sure you'll come around." Star said. "Yeah not happening, like ever." Amalia said in defiantly.

"Come on you two, we gotta get going." Marco said.

"Coming Marco. Alright Amalia, let's get going before… oh hold on." Star said. "Hmm? What's up Star?" "Uh Amalia, I think some paint got on your face. Like right here, under your right eye." "Really? I didn't notice." Amalia said before she saw something on Star's face. "Star I think you got some paint on yourself too." "Huh, where?" "Right there, on your forehead." Star looks to her forehead where she found the paint stain and Amalia looked to spot under her right eye where her stain was. However, the stain on Star was shown to be a small purple heart, while the one on Amalia was a small green star. They both peeled off the marks, then looked to each other, knowing what these marks meant.

"Uh guys?" Marco said. "Did you both get the paint stains off?"

"Uh Marco," Star said. "This is not paint that was on me." "Yeah, mine wasn't paint either." Amalia said.

"O-kay? Well then, what do the heart and the star mean for you both then?" Marco asked.

Star looked to Amalia who had a worried look on her face as she kept looking at the star mark that was in her hand.

"Hey Amalia? I have a question." "What is it Star?" "So this mark here I'm holding? On Mewni, its sort a part of something that happens to mewman girls around my age. Does the mark in your hand kind a mean the same thing?" "Yes, yes it does." Amalia said before asking Star a question. "Now I have a question for you, Star. The thing that's related to these marks we're holding, does your version of it get as bad as my version?" Star glanced down at the floor, before looking back at Amalia and nodding her head nervously. "Great, this just went from bad to worse!"

"Alright," Marco said walking over to the two girls. "Can you guys tell me what has you both freaking out… and how bad this could be, please?" "It's really bad Marco," Star said. "I think I'm going through… Mewberty." Star said. "Okay?" Marco said. "Then Amalia? What are you going through?"

But before Amalia could answer, the three teens suddenly heard a voice that had a playful teasing tone to it.

" _Hehehehehehe! Oh thank the great Bahamut above I am around to see this! Hahahahaha!"_

"Uh… where did that voice come from just now?" Marco asked. "That didn't come from me." Star said looking to Amalia.

"Don't look at me, I don't know where it came from either." Amalia said. "But for some reason it's giving me a bad feeling. Like an annoying fly that won't stop buzzing around your head." She said before they heard the voice again.

" _Say the girl who's freaking out about something that happens to every female in Draclord. Hmph!"_

"Uh, not to interrupt you," Marco said. "But could whoever is speaking to us please come out? Unless you're a ghost. You're not a ghost, right?" _"Don't worry, I'm not a ghost."_ The voice said much to Marco's relief. _"And as for me coming out, you'd have to take me off your bag first, please?"_ "Wait, take you off… my bag? What do mean by that?" _"Haha, the badge on your bag silly."_ "Hold on," Marco then takes the badge off his bag. "You mean… you're inside this?" _"Yep, now just hold on a second,"_

The badge then started glowing green as a medium-sized wind sphere appeared over it. The sphere then quickly dissipated, reveling a young female with light green eyes and a pair of insect like wings on her back and pointed ears. She was also wearing a light green dress and was about the size of a small doll.

"Ahh, it feels so nice to be out of that thing and stretch my wings again." The small girl said before turning to look at Marco who had a stunned look on his face. "And I have the pleasure of getting to meet my new master!" she said as she flew up to Marco's face and nuzzled against his cheek. "I- what just- um… who are you?" Marco asked slowly recovering from his shock. "My name is Sylph, and I am a wind spirit. Your wind spirit to be exact."

"What… in… the… Heck are you doing here!?" Amalia shouted surprising Star and Marco, but only getting a sigh from Sylph. "Do you really need to yell? It's not very becoming of a princess." Sylph said as she moved to the top of Marco's head. "Anyway, your body seems to be the only thing about that's grown; but from the amount of stars and hearts that are on you and your friend, you still seem to be growing." "What do you mean?" Amalia asked. "So far only a single mark has shown up on me and Star." "Really?" Sylph says as she creates a mirror and moves it to Amalia and Star. "Then what are all those marks on the two of you then, huh?"

Amalia and Star instantly panicked when they saw that more marks had appeared on both their faces.

"Nononononono!" Star said in growing panic, "When the heck did they show up!?" Amalia shouted.

"While you all were stunned when I appeared." Sylph said as she flew off of Marco's head and stood on his shoulder. "Anyway; to answer my master's question from before, Dragovolution is a process that females from Draclord who are descendants of the founders from there go through in their teens. I imagine it's the same for females from Mewni too." "Oh, so it's kind of like puberty." Marco asked. "Precisely. Only a bit more… complicated." Sylph said.

"That's an understatement for the year." Amalia said. "In any case; this is going to get… weird. Marco we're really going to need your help on this." "Yeah Marco!" Star said as she grabbed Marco by the straps of his book bag in desperately. "You gotta keep us away from boys!"

"Umm Star? You do know I'm a boy, right?" Marco said.

"Oh yeah, you are a boy… aren't you?" Star said in a sudden fond voice. "I think you mean a very cute and funny boy, Star." Amalia said in an equally fond voice as she walked over and got closer to Marco's face. "I mean look at his adorable mole here," she said as she playfully pocked Marco's mole. "But Amalia, your forgetting how cute Marco's entire face is!" Star moves Amalia's hand so she can place both her hands on Marco's cheeks, which instantly makes his face go red. "He's even cuter when he blushes! Look Amalia!" "Wow, he's even cuter than a baby Zinogre!"

"Uhhh…" Marco said not sure what to do, until the two girls were blown away from him by a strong gust of wind as Sylph floated in between them.

"Would you two flirting hens back off of my master and try to control your urges!" She shouted at Star and Amalia who snapped out of their mini love trance.

"Geez! You didn't have to blast us with that strong a wind blast, you know!" Amalia as she helped Star up. "But yeah, sorry about that, Marco." "Yeah, sorry Marco. It's just… not that easy controlling ourselves when we're like this." Star said.

"It's cool you guys." Marco said in understanding. "Just so I understand; when you all say weird, do you mean like regular Star and Amalia weird or like destroy the school weird?"

Star, Amalia and Sylph looked at each other before looking back at Marco. "Destroy the school." They all said which earned a sigh from Marco.

"How did I know you guys were going to say that?" He said. "Alright, Let's get you two home before things get weirder or dangerous." "Agreed," Sylph said as she flew over and sat on Marco's shoulder. "Uh, you sure it's a good idea for you to sit on my shoulder like that?" Marco asked her. "Does it bother you?" "Well not really, I was just wondering if it's alright for other people to see you?" "What a caring master I have," Sylph said kindly. "Don't worry, the only ones who can see me are those who wield magic and the one I'm contracted with." She explained. "Oh, okay then."

"If you guys are done, can please go home now Marco?" Star asked as she could feel more of her mewberty marks appearing on her. "Yeah, kind of want to get out of here like right now, please?" Amalia said.

"Right, right, come on guys." Marco said walking out of the art room while Star and Amalia walking behind them, with Star using her hair to cover her face and Amalia throwing her hood up.

As they made their way through the halls, Star and Amalia were trying to keep each other from looking at any boys that walked passed them so that not so many of their marks would appear on their faces.

"Star! Stop looking at the guy tying his shoes!" Amalia whispered. "I wasn't!" "Yes you were! I saw you." "Because you were looking at him too with those golden puppy dog eyes!" Star said. "I was not doing puppy dog eyes at that guy!" "You totally were!" Soon more marks started to appear on Star and Amalia which made them panic.

"The more you both talk about boys, the faster your symptoms will appear. So knock it off!" Sylph yelled quietly. "What Sylph means guys, is that you just have to calm down and stop talking about boys until we get home, okay?" Marco said but got no response. Sylph tapped his cheek to get his attention. "Their… right there." She sighed pointing to back behind them, were Marco saw Star and Amalia staring at a guy who was drinking from a water fountain.

"Hellooooo," "Hey there handsome," they both said getting the boy's attention who saw the multitude of marks on them. "So… what's your name?" Star said. "Hey I was going ask him!" Amalia wined. "Oh sorry; go ahead then… ask his name."

"Umm… are you two okay?" the guys asked.

"Aww, he's worried about us Star." Amalia said. "What a caring cutie he is." Star said as she and Amalia gushed while the guys only got more confused.

Marco then quickly walked over and grabbed the two by their arms. "Sorry about that, they're not feeling all that great. Again sorry." Marco said as he dragged them both away with Sylph fly close to him. "You two really have no control over yourselves do you?" she said.

"You want to try going through this?" Amalia said. "Yeah, it's not easy." Star added.

"O-kay," Marco said. "Let's just get you guys home." He said before Amalia spoke. "Marco?" "yeah Amalia?" "… your touching me and Star." "… Oh no,"

As soon as the words left his mouth; a purple web like substance shot out of Star's hand, while a green web like substance shot from Amalia's arm, sticking them both to the lockers.

"Holy crud!" "Aaaaahhhh!" Star and Amalia shouted as they both tried to free themselves from the locker. Only for its door to swing open, causing them to fall to the ground.

"You guys okay?" Marco asked. "Marco, we're stuck to a locker, what do you think?" Amalia said in a deadpanned voice. "Okay, let's just get you both up and – "

"NO!" they both shouted as quickly got up and shut themselves in the locker they were now attached to. "Your little boy hands are part of the problem." "Yeah; no offence Marco, but you touching us is only going to make this worse."

"Well there has to be someway I can help," Marco said. "Maybe there's something in your spellbooks that can help with this?" "I doubt there's anything in Amalia's that can help," Sylph said. "But if there is something in Star's book that can help, then maybe we could use what we find and see if it will also help Amalia."

"Maybe that could work." Star said. "At this point, I'll try anything." Amalia said.

"Alright, you two sit tight, me and Sylph will head back home to get Star's book." Marco said getting ready to run back to the house before Star said something. "My book isn't at home." She said which stopped Marco dead in his tracks. "I… gave it to Ferguson."

"Star, don't tell me you actually went through with that stupid bet with Ferguson?" Amalia asked to which Star answered with a nervous laugh. "I told you; you. Would. Not. Win. And you still did it anyway!" "Come on Amalia, you know I don't back down from anything if it's exciting." Star said. "Besides; you would've taken Ferg's bet too if I didn't." "I know; but when he asked me to wager the half of Cressa's arrow, I said heck no."

"Oh, you got to meet the former princess of Dianaria?" Sylph asked. "So what if I did? What does it matter to you?" Amalia said annoyed while Sylph sighed. "Believe what you want about me, but I was just as mournful as you at what happened to Princess Crescenta and her family." "Yeah… I know." Amalia said as she slumped down in the surprisingly spacious locker and didn't say anything else. Star and Marco didn't say anything until Sylph spoke breaking the tension. "At any rate, you two just stay in the locker and wait for my master and I to return with Star's book." She said as she summoned a gust of wind which blew Marco down the hall.

"Just hang in there you two! We won't be too long!" Marco shouted before Star and Amalia couldn't hear him anymore.

"Okay Marco!" Star shouted even though he probably couldn't hear her now. She then sat down with Amalia in silence for a bit before speaking. "So…. Cressa's dad gave Sylph to your family as a present, huh? I don't think even my mom and dad's families or anyone of the other royals on Mewni gave my family a tiny person who can do magic like Sylph can." Star said in a cheery tone which seemed to get Amalia's attention. "I'm guessing you want me to explain a thing or two about Sylph and her magic, don't you?" Amalia said with a smirk as Star nodded her head quickly. "Of course. Fine, I'll tell you." "Yay! And while you do that we can… you know… pluck off our marks." "Why?" "Cause I'm not going to able to pay attention if one of my besties is covered in green stars." Star said as she reached over and plucked one of Amalia's marks off her cheek. Amalia giggled as she reached over and pulled off one of Star's marks. "Hey!" "You pulled off one of mine, I'm just returning the favor." "Haha; okay, okay. We'll take turns, just start talking about Sylph and her magic already." Star said getting excited. "Okay sheesh," Amalia said playfully rolling her eyes as told Star about Sylph's magic while they were demarking themselves.

* * *

After his wild ride on the wind, Marco and Sylph were wandering the halls looking for Ferguson.

"So Master Marco?" Sylph asked. "What exactly do you look for in a girl?" "W-what!?" Marco said unprepared for that question. "W-why are you suddenly asking me something like that?" "Hmm… no reason. Just curious is all. Plus, I wanted to see your reaction." "Ha-ha, you are hilarious." Marco said as he heard her giggle. "Actually Sylph; I have something to ask you." "Which is?" "Could you… not call me your master?" he said. "It's just I don't see myself as that, I kind of see us more like… partners." "You mean like with Star and Amalia?" Sylph asked. "Yeah, like that." "Alright; then I'll address you as just Marco, is that alright?" "Yeah, that's okay." "Good; now that we have that settled, are you going to answer my question now?" "Not happening, sorry." "Boo," Sylph said puffing her cheeks up, until she saw the person she and Marco were looking for from a classroom window. "Marco, is that boy there who we're looking for?" "Yeah, that's Ferguson! Great work, Sylph." Marco said as he creped under the window. He then tapped on the glass which got Ferguson attention.

"Marco?" Ferguson said not expecting to see his bro. "Dude, what's up? Haven't seen you since that whole thing with your arm almost eating that Jerry kid." "Yeah, don't remind me." "Anyway Ferguson, I need Star's book of spells." "Oh; yeah. Uh about Star's book Marco," Ferguson said nervously. "What did you do?" "Okay, so I may or may not have… give the book… to Janna for her pudding cup?" "What!?" Marco shouted quietly. "It's was a chocolate strawberry swirl dude; do you know how rare a flavor that is?"

"How is it that Star lost a bet with this human, again?" Sylph whispered as Marco sighed.

"Do you at least know where Janna is now?" Marco asked Ferguson. "I think she's said something about showing the book to Hope and Leah." "Alright, thanks. What class are you in, anyway?" "Something about the power of wind and junk. I mean I know wind can make a kite fly, but it's just air pushing stuff. Not really all that if you ask me."

"Excuse you!?" Sylph shouted angrily even though Ferguson couldn't hear her. "Be grateful your Marco's friend or I'd show you what the power of the wind is really capable of!" "Sylph relax; he didn't mean anything by it." Marco whispered. "Anyway, thanks Ferug. I'll see you around."

"Later bro." Ferguson said as Marco creped away.

As they moved away from the window, Marco saw Sylph potting with her arms crossed and her cheeks puffed up. He smiled and patted her head with his finger to make her feel better.

"Come on, you know if Ferguson knew you there he would've said what he said." Marco said. "And besides; I think your wind magic is really cool, Little Viento." "Viento?" Sylph said confused. "Yeah, it's the Spanish word for wind." "Ooooh, interesting," Sylph said as she and Marco went looking for Janna.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the lockers, Amalia had just about finished telling Star about Sylph's magic. While also plucking the last of her green star marks off her forehead and dropping it outside where a pile of green stars and purple hearts were.

"So Sylph's the manifestation of wind, which is spirit magic." Star said as Amalia pulled off another of her mewberty marks. "Yep, and spirit magic is a really powerful form of magic. It's still unknown if every element has a spirit or not, but spirits do grow alongside their partners which makes them stronger." Amalia explained. "Cool, so does that mean Sylph will get stronger the more Marco grows?" "Yeah, but she's already gone through her change." "What do you mean?" "Well when I first saw Sylph she was a little bit shorter than how she is now, also she didn't have pointed ears and her wings were much smaller. She also didn't speak much. After sometimes passed, she changed to how she looks now. But that was only when she was with my mom at the time." "Wait, if she changed when she was with your mom, then wouldn't she be weaker with Marco? Because he can't use magic." Star said. "That's true; but based now how she looks and the strength of her wind, it doesn't seem like she's weakened. I'll have to talk to Sally about this later, and…. There." Amalia said as she tossed the last of Star's marks out the locker. "Much better," "Yeah, a lot better." Star said before they both heard the sound of the school bell go off. "Tell me that's not," "Oh no,"

The hallways were soon filled with girls and… boys passing by the two's locker to their next classes. The two royals soon saw the familiar marks rapidly popping up on their skin again. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" "Off, off, get off me!" They said in panic as more marks appeared. They soon heard the voices and footsteps outside the locker stop as the bell rang again. When it stopped, they noticed no more marks appearing on them. "Thank Bahamut that's over," Amalia sighed in relief. "Yeah, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Star said just as relived. Their moment of reprieve soon turned to fear when they heard a very masculine voice.

"Alright boys, were going to do our warm up out here today. Due to… issues with the pool."

"Star, tell me that is not," Amalia said as Star answered. "That is defiantly the school swim team." "…Crud." Amalia said.

"By issues you mean someone you-know-what in the pool, right captain?" a member of the swim team said. "Yes, let's not mention it and get started, okay?"

All at once, the team dropped towels and began limbering up. Unaware that their muscular builds were having a very… attractive effect on the two hidden princesses.

"Star?" Amalia said as her gaze was stuck on the swim team. "Yeah Amalia?" "I don't think I can... hold out." "That's fine... I... can't either." Star said as she too gazed at the overly muscular swimmers. "So in case neither of us make it out of this, I just wanted to say… thanks for being an awesome princess friend." "Right back at you," Amalia said as the locker they were both in began to have both their marks literally spill out.

* * *

Meanwhile on the other side of the school, Echo creek high's local mischief maker, Janna Ordonia was showing her friends, Hope and Leah Star's book.

"So can you really do anything with this book?" Hope asked Janna. "Totally, just stinks I couldn't get Amalia's book too. Then we'd really have some fun." Janna said. "Now let's see what's in this – "

Suddenly a blast of wind came and blew the three girls away from the book while a mini tornado engulfed it.

"That book is cursed! Run for it!" the two girls screamed in terror and ran away. But Janna just looked on with eyes full of excitement as the winds died down. Janna then ran back over to look at the book as it floated inside the tornado. As Janna got a closer look, she saw the silhouette of a tiny person with wings.

"Cool! A real spirit!" Janna said. The tornado soon dissipated, lowering the book to the ground. It also allowed Janna to get a clear look at the little person who she could see was a girl with pointed ear and green eyes. "I'm surprised you came out of this book, so are there like more of you in this thing?" Janna asked as she was about to open the book.

"Don't open that book!" Sylph said as blew Janna back with a gust of wind and floated down and stood on the book. "Why are there humans who want to mess around with things they have no business with? And how on can you possible see me?" "I kind of mess around with a few macabre things now and then." Janna said which didn't seem to surprise Sylph. "How have you not lost your soul yet?" "Hmm, just lucky I guess."

Soon Marco came from around the corner and spotted Sylph standing on Star's book. When Sylph saw him, she hopped off the book and flew over to sit on his shoulder. She then whispered something to him that surprised him, but she soon said something that eased his worry as he walked over to the book while Janna grinned.

"I already know what you're thinking Janna, and no I didn't mess around with any sorcery." Marco said. "But… you can see the person on my shoulder?" "Clear as day Marco," Janna said her grin not dropping. "I guessing you both want this book, right?" "Yes, we need it for something." "Really? Well I could help with whatever magic thing you guys are doing."

"No thanks, please leave… now." Sylph said getting up in Janna's face. "I don't want any dark spirits that may have latched onto you near Marco."

"Alright, I can take a hint." Janna said. "But Marco's going to need me soon enough, because I've got his keys. See ya around." She said as she ran off.

"You pickpocket!" Sylph yelled as Marco groaned. "Forget it Sylph, let's just see if we can find anything in the book that will help Star and Amalia." Marco said as he began flipping through the pages while Sylph looked from atop his head. "Maybe I should look at the glossary first,"

Just as Marco said that the pages suddenly started flipping until Glossaryck popped out.

"Did somebody call my name?" he said. "Because here I am; Sir Glossaryck of Terms, at your service milady." "Not milady, dude." Marco said before Sylph hopped off Marco and floated right up to Glossaryck.

"Hello again, pudding thief." She said accusingly. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Ms. Kite blower. My, look at you now." Glossaryck said eyeing her. "Keep your comments to yourself book hermit, we need you for something that involves your princess and mine." Sylph said. "Ah, Star and Princess Amalia, huh? What's wrong with them now?"

"Star said she's going through Mewberty and Amalia's going through Dragovolution or something." Marco said. "Whoa, Mewberty and Dragovolution at the same time, what are the chances?" Glossaryck said thoughtfully which began to get on Sylph's nerves which he noticed. "Alright, alright, stop the glaring. I may be able to help, but first I'm going to need a little something first." "Let me guess… pudding?" Marco said. "Correct my boy!" "Hah, Sylph stay here while I get the pudding, please?" Marco said as he left for the cafeteria leaving the two alone.

"So…" "For the record, I still hate you for taking my pudding cup back then." Sylph said facing away from Glossaryck who sighed. "I'll tell you what; If I let you have some of the pudding that Marco brings will that at least get you to look at me without a glare, hmm?" "… I call the first spoon full?" "Deal,"

* * *

Meanwhile elsewhere in the school a few students were hanging out and talking. A boy wearing headphones and playing air drums walked passed them to his locker… which had a pile of purple hearts and green stars, but paid no mind to them. He then opened his locker to look himself over in the mirror attached to the door unaware of the stares he was getting from Star and Amalia, who's faces were now purple and green respectively.

"Boy," they both said as purple hearts and green stars fell out of their mouths as they spoke. "Booooooooy…" They both then stretched a purple and green arm out and lightly touched the boy's check. Once they did that, more purple hearts and green stars began to fill the locker until their faces were completely covered up. Two heart-shaped glowing eyes then appeared alongside a pair of green glowing draconic eyes as the two girls slowly pulled their arms back into the mass of hearts and stars. The boy only shrugged his shoulders and closed the locker and went on his way air drumming. As he did; purple and green vines began to seep out of the locker.

Marco came running back; pudding cup in hand, and saw Sylph sitting on the book waiting along with Glossaryck. "Okay, here's your pudding," Marco said as Sylph flew over and took the pudding cup from him." Wait Sylph, what are you doing?"

"I don't remember saying you could have the whole thing." Glossaryck said. "Relax you book hermit; I'm only taking my share like you promised." Sylph said as she peeled open the cup as Marco looked to the little blue man for an explanation. "I promised her the first spoon full when you got back, just roll with it." He said as Marco groaned.

"Alright Sylph, let me see the cup." Marco asked. Sylph then handed Marco the cup, where he scooped out a spoon full. "Say aaah," "Aaaaah" she said as Marco fed her the desert. "Mmmm, it's just as delicious as I remember it." "Easy, don't talk with your mouthful like that." Marco said. "Sorry,"

"Okay, you got your spoonful Ms. Grudge holder," Glossaryck said. "Now I'd like the rest of that pudding please?" "Fine, just try to avoid getting any of it in your beard, it's gross and I don't Marco or I to have to witness that." Sylph said. "I make no promises,"

* * *

As students were walking the halls; talking with friends about how class was or other things, two boys looked down and saw purple and green vines on the ground.

"Dude, what the heck is this? We got an overgrown tree nearby or something?" one of the boys who was wearing a yellow cap asked. His friend followed the vines and saw where they lead to and saw shocked. "Uh Tobey?" "Yeah Rick?" "I think the vines are from… whatever those are?" The boy known as Rick looked to where his friend was pointing and saw what looked like two cocoons. One was in the shape of a purple heart and the other in the shape of a green star. "What… the heck are those things?" Rick asked. "Hmm, they look like giant cocoons I think?" Tobey said. "Really? Got touch one of them." "What!? No way! You go touch one!" "Okay, We'll each touch one, how's that?" "Ugh… fine." Rick walks up to the purple cocoon, while Tobey walked up to the green one. The moment they both placed a hand on the two; they jumped back when six hands appeared on the heart cocoon and two clawed hands appeared on the star one. "Oh my Gosh!" "Whoa! What the!"

The two cocoons soon had crakes appearing on them as the boys saw the silhouettes of what looked to be two girls. The cocoons split open to revel Star and Amalia; but they had both changed drastically.

Star's sky-blue dress was now a light purple with a white tied string at the neckline and two red belts around the waistline, striped purple leggings, periwinkle legwarmers and sneakers, and heart-tipped antennae on her headband in place of the horns. Her skin was now purple, her hair a pale lavender and twisted into twin buns. She now had two extra sets of arms, and her eyes had become glowing hearts with heart-tipped eyelashes. As she began to rise into the air, she unfurled a pair of periwinkle butterfly-like wings.

As for Amalia; her dark blue hair had become a glowing bright green, her once golden eyes were now shining, draconic dark green. Her hands now had long, blue claws instead of fingers, blue dragon horn, fangs, a long draconic tail that had fins which ended with a pointed spike at the end, and finally a pair of large dragon wings on her back. **(Think Elizabeth Báthory from the Fate series, only a lot cooler.)**

"Dude! What the heck did we just unleash!?" "The heck if I know!"

Star and Amalia's gaze then fell on the two boys as they said one single word.

"Boooooys…"

* * *

"So… you said Star is going through Mewberty and Princess Amalia dealing with Dragovolution, right?" Glossaryck asked Marco as he cleaned the pudding from his bread, thanks to Sylph's complaining. "Yeah, so how do I make it stop?" "Yeah, you can't stop it." "That's not any option for me, I can't just leave them both like that." "Relax kid," Glossaryck said as he looked at a digital watch on his arm. "Since then both started changing at the same, they should be back to normal at around… 3:57 pm or they won't."

"They won't what? Finish your sentence." Sylph said making the little blue mane sigh before he spoke again. "They won't turn back to normal."

"Wait, that's it? There's nothing I can do?" Marco asked only for Glossaryck to point to his open mouth. "It's empty, you ate it all." "Scrape the sides,"

"That's it! Come here!" Sylph then flew over and started yanking harshly on Glossaryck's beard. "Ow, ow, ow, alright, I'll talk! Just let go!" he bagged as the wind spirit let go of him. "Sheesh; look kid, nature is like a runaway dump truck. Hot, fats and full of garbage."

"What?" Marco said. "What he means Marco; is that since what's happening to Star and Amalia is a natural thing, we can't stop it." Sylph explained.

"Thank you Ms. Sylph. Now if that's all, I'll be going now." Glossaryck said as floated down into that open book. "What!? There has to be more you can tell me." "Of course there is; but then, you're out of pudding." He said as he closes the book.

"Un-be-lieveable," Sylph said while Marco rubbed his temples. The two then heard a scream coming from far away. "Ugh, come on Sylph!" Marco said as he ran to where the scream came from. "Thanks for nothing hermit!" She shouted and flew after Marco.

Once Sylph caught up to Marco, the two continued until they started to see hanging purple and green vines, claw marks and purple hearts everywhere.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" they both said as they moved forward. Suddenly Marco was grabbed by his arm. He looked and saw it was boy, trapped in a locker covered in purple webbing while other were trapped in green crystals along with other boys.

"Hey! You gotta get us outta here!" he begged.

Marco and Sylph soon heard the sounds of screaming coming from the boy's rest room. The door was soon blasted off its hinges as a green dragon-humanoid leaped out and land on all fours as purple butterfly-humanoid flew out carrying a terrified boy.

"Sylph? That can't… is that?" "Yeah Marco," Sylph said pocking her head out from his hoodie. "I think that's Star and Amalia right there." "This… is what happens with them?" "Pretty much."

Amalia then ran over to the lockers with Star following behind her carrying the flailing boy. Amalia then tore the door off the locker with her tail as Star tossed the boy inside, where she began webbing him up as Amalia's clawed hands shinned green incasing the him in crystal.

"This is… defiantly new," Sylph said. "What is?" Marco asked. "Well it's just that… I was excepting them both to be fighting over claiming all the boys here. But instead, it looks like their working together. When it comes to matting in wildlife, there's usually fighting over a partner." Sylph explained. "This the first I've seen two females actually cooperating in finding a potential mate." "I guess even when they're both like this they still work together." Marco said. "Anyway; we need to try and snap them out of… whatever their doing," "Marco wait!" Sylph said urgently. "You can't just walk over to them! The minute they see you, who knows what will happen." "What? Won't I just get cocooned like the rest of these guys?" "I don't think so, Marco you're the only boy who interacts with them daily. So they consider you a more… umm… favorable choice." She said which made Marco a bit more nervous. "Even if that's the case; I still want to help them." He said which didn't fail to impress Sylph, seeing as how Okita had told her how this boy risked almost getting killed by an elder dragon to protect one of these girls. "Alright; Glossaryck said that they should turn back to normal at 3:57pm," Sylph then looked to clock on the wall next to them. "It's 3:30 right now, so…" "Your suggesting I keep them both busy for 27 minutes, aren't you?" Marco asked. "I'll be helping you as much as I can. Remember your partner is a first-class elemental spirit; this should be easy." Sylph said confidently which got Marco to laugh a little. "Alright, I'll be counting on you then." "Right!"

Marco took a few breaths to calm himself before walking towards what could possibly be the most dangerous thing he's done. When he had decided he was at a good enough distance to give him a head start, he called out to the two girls.

"Star! Amalia!"

The two had stopped cocooning the boy they caught and turned around at the sound of their names being called. They immediately spotted Marco who was waving at them with a nervous smile on his face.

"Hey you guys, haha." He said as they continued staring at him. They then looked to each other and smiled as they looked back at Marco. "Why do I get the feeling those smiles they have aren't good ones?" "Maaaaarcooo…." They both said in very slow and longing tones before dashing at him. "Sylph!"

"Hang on! **Heavenly Wind Ark** **!** " An ark-like vessel made of soon forms under Marco and launches him into the air avoiding Star and Amalia's lung. "Whoa! I didn't know you could use the wind to do stuff like this." Marco said amazed. "Try not to be too impressed yet, I have a lot more to show." Marco and Sylph looked down and saw Star quickly flying up towards them. Sylph quickly had the wind ark move as Star came close, but was forced to stop when Amalia jumped out from below and was now above them. "Since when can Amalia jump that high!?" Marco asked in panic. "Looks like her physical skills are stronger in that state." Sylph said as Amalia dove towards them. Marco looked back and saw Star coming at them from behind. "Here comes Star again!" "Not a problem, **Towering Tornado!** " just as Amalia and Star got close, a tornado suddenly surrounds Marco and Sylph blowing the two away from them with its powerful winds. Sylph then had the wind arc land back on the ground, which prompted Marco to run and hide behind one of the trees in the school courtyard. "Sylph, you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine, I managed blow Amalia back a far distance. And since we know those two are working as a team, I figured Star would go after her to make sure she's okay, buying us more time." Sylph said. "Speaking of which; how are we doing on time?" "Oh, hold on…" Marco checked his watch and saw that it read 3:45. "We've still got twelve more minutes to go," "Okay, that shouldn't be too bad. They seem to be relying on basic pincer tactics so long as we can avoid or push then back, we should be – "

Sylph didn't get to finish as she was suddenly blasted off Marco's shoulder and stuck to the locker with an all too familiar purple heart webbing. Marco then looked up and paled as he saw Star floating in the air with Amalia next to her, both them smiling at him with glee.

"What!? How could they have sneaked up on us? I should have been able to at least sense them." Sylph said. Marco noticed that both Star and Amalia had a light coating of what looked like green glitter on them. "What's that green glittery looking stuff on them?" Marco asked. When Sylph saw what Marco was talking about, she let out an annoyed huff. "Are you kidding me!" "What is it?" "Ugh! Those crystals we saw Amalia incasing those boys in? Apparently they can also mask a person's magic. Which why I couldn't sense them coming." "Are you alright!?" Marco aske concerned. "Fine, just stuck is all. Ah! Behind you Marco!" Marco looked back and saw Star and Amalia bolting towards him. Sylph quickly summoned a powerful wind guts to push them back. Amalia swiftly dug her clawed hands into the ground to brace herself. When she saw Star fly passed her, she quickly used her tail and latched onto her to keep her from being blown away. "Their teamwork is really beginning to get on my nerves!" Sylph yelled.

"You two are making things worse, you know." Marco and Sylph looked over and saw Glossaryck being fed pudding by Janna who were watching from a safe distance. "Just let it happen." "Are you out of your mind!?" Sylph yelled. "If you think I'm going to let Marco torn apart, then you have got to be – "

"Sylph… stop the wind." Marco said which shocked the wind spirit.

"What!?" "I said stop the wind, just… let them do… whatever their going to do to me." "But Marco what if – " Marco turned and smiled which stopped Sylph's argument dead. "I'll be fine; trust me… okay?" he said in a kind voice that had little tears forming at the corners of Sylph's eye. "O-okay," she said as the winds ceased. Star and Amalia were confused by the sudden stopping of the winds, but quickly dismissed it as Amalia summoned a large green crystal behind Marco and Star webbed him to it. Once their prey was secured, Amalia and Star grabbed a hold of the crystal and flew off into the sky. Sylph watched helplessly as her new master was whisked away from her and she couldn't do anything.

"Well… that happened." Glossaryck said as he floated over and snapped his fingers, releasing Sylph. She slowly floated down to the ground and landed on her knees with her head down as she quietly cried at the loss of someone close to her. "Again," she said as she raised her tear soaked face to the sky. "I let it happen again." Just as she was about to cry again, Glossaryck looked at his watch which read 3:57, then looked to the sky where he and Sylph saw something fluttering in the air before landing in front of them.

They saw that it was a pale purple heart and a pale green star. Soon more hearts and stars started to fall from the sky which was then followed by screaming. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" That ended with something falling from the sky into a pile of purple hearts and green stars that were in front of the lockers. Sylph quickly flew over to the crash site where she saw Marco climbing out of the pile.

"Well… cough… at the least the landing was soft." He groaned as he dusted himself off. He looked up and saw Sylph floating in front of him looking ready to cry. She quickly flew over to him and crashed right into his chest and cried. "DON'T EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN YOU IDIDOT! I THOUGHT I LOST YOU! MORON! STUPID! IGNORAMUS!" she yelled as she hit him repeated with her tiny fists. Marco scooped her up into his hand and used his other one to gentle whip her tears away as he smiled. "I'll try not to, sorry for scaring you." "O-okay. Wait, what happened to – "

"Ugh, my head hurts." Star groaned as she climbed out with Amalia, both of them back to normal. "Your head? Star, my whole body hurts. I feel like Ratha sat on top of me for an entire day." "How would you – " "Don't ask,"

"You guys are alright!" Marco said happily as he brought them both in for a hug. The two were surprised at first, but soon hugged him back. The hug was short-lived however at the sound of buzzing. "Um, anyone know what that was?" Amalia asked.

Star moved her hair back and turned around to revel a pair of tiny wings to which she squeals excitedly.

"Look guys! I got my mewberty wings!" Star said excitedly. "You literally grew wings?" Amalia said. "Yeah, this is what happens after my mewberty. What about you Amalia?" "Me? Well… look closely at my eyes," Amalia said. Marco and Star look closely and see that Amalia's eyes haven't really changed. But when she blinked, they changed from normal to draconic which surprised them. "Whoa! What are those?" Marco asked in shock at what he saw. "Those are my dragon eyes; they allow me to see things that you normally wouldn't be able to see. Also check these out," Amalia then opens her mouth to show two pointed fangs at the top. "Those are my dragon fangs," "So cool! But, what are they for?" Star asked. "I don't really know myself. So anyway; can you fly with those wings, Star?" "Let's see!"

Star grabs Marco and Amalia by their arms as she gets her wings fluttering. She then jumps into the air and they begin to fly… for about 3 seconds before hitting the ground which prompts Sylph to laugh.

"I guess your wings still need a more growing before you start soaring through the skies, haha." Sylph said through her laughing fit. ' **Okita, looks like you truly did find someone amazing for your daughter.** ' She thought as the three teens got up off the ground. "Although; she may either have competition or maybe someone she'll have to share with." She said with a knowing smile as she glanced at Star. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see when a certain night rolls around."

"Okay; Star? how about we wait for your wings to grow out more before we try that again, yeah?" Amalia asked. "That fine," Star said. "I more excited about flying on my very own dragon soon. Which reminds me; how's your egg been doing Marco?" she asked.

"Oh, well actually before we left for school this morning, I did check it and found it had a small crack on one side." Marco said which got the two girls excited. "So I gave my egg to Sally so she could give it a look over, and she said it should hatch around the same time as Star's egg." "That would be so cool if both our eggs hatched at the same time!" Star said excitedly as she grabbed Marco and Amalia's hands and started quickly dragging them home so they could all see the progression of the two dragon eggs.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey people hope you like this chapter. So yeah, Star has her mewberty wings and Amalia has dragon eyes and fangs. And what could Sylph mean by "a certain night" ? Keep reading to find the answers. Also; in case this chapter doesn't fall on the day, happy new years and have a great 2019! ;)**


	15. One-Year Anniversary Special

**Hey everyone, M &BFDIB here! Sorry for the long wait! Star's Keyblade and I have both been taking some time with our other stories, but I did make room to come out with this mini-chapter. If you look above at the publish date, you'll notice that today, April 24 2019, is the one-year anniversary of this story! It's crazy to think that I embarked on this journey with Keyblade and Crysky more than 365 days ago, starting as a beta-reader and eventually becoming a co-writer. I'm proud of the amazing world that we (when I say we, I mean mostly Keyblade ;) ) have created, and I hope that we continue it for the year to come! So I wrote this little mini-chapter on short notice to celebrate our first year working on this project. With the birth of this world came the birth of Amalia Dalmasca, so I've written this chapter about her 15th birthday. It's not meant to be part of the continuum, so try to just pretend it doesn't screw up timelines. Also, to have it stand out a bit from the other chapters (and to challenge myself creatively), I have written the entire chapter in present tense, so it'll feel like you're right in the middle of the action! So without further ado:**

* * *

One-Year Anniversary Special: Amalia's Birthday

* * *

Amalia is awoken by Star's voice. She is still too tired to move or even open her eyes, but she can hear Star's insistent "Hey! Amalia! Wake up! Amalia! Wake up! Amalia!"

Amalia groans and rolls over. "What is it, Star?" she moans. She opens her eyes to see Marco standing next to Star, at her bedside. She becomes worried. If both Marco and Star are frantically trying to wake her up, something may be wrong!

Star cuts in excitedly, "Amalia, come downstairs!"

Amalia isn't sure what to think. She is still in her pajamas, but she shrugs and gets out of bed, pulling on her blue _cochaka_ and following Star and Marco to the stairs. Halfway down, Star puts her hands over Amalia's eyes so that she can't see, nearly causing her to slip and tumble all the way down. "Star!" she squeaks, just barely managing regain her footing.

"Sorry!" Star apologizes, but she does not take her hands off. "Now step down… and down… and down… that's the floor now, walk straight. And…"

Star removes her hands, and Amalia hears a torrent of, "Happy birthday!" She sees her two sisters, Illyasviel and Ishtar, standing in the middle of the living room. Behind them, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz hold aloft a banner reading, **HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY, AMALIA!**

Amalia stands there in shock for a moment. "It's my birthday?"

"Yep," says Marco proudly. "You mentioned your birthday was on Virgo 29, so I converted it from the lunar calendar to the Gregorian calendar, and it's the equivalent of today!"

"Wow!" Amalia exclaims. "I knew it was coming soon, but I didn't know for sure what day. Anywary, Illya, Ishtar, how did you get here?!"

"Mom let us come for your birthday," Ishtar says proudly.

"That's what she keeps telling herself," adds Illya.

"Oh, shut it."

Amalia takes a moment to take in her surroundings. Balloons and streamers of every color imaginable seem to cover every possible surface. The Diazes are wearing party hats, although Amalia's sisters must have objected, as they aren't wearing them. "Wow, guys… thank you so much!"

She hardly uttered the words before she jumps; Star just blew a party horn from behind her. Then Star shouts, "Now let's get this party started!"

Amalia brightens even further. "What are we doing?"

"Through the door!" Star says excitedly. More quietly, so that Amalia can just barely hear her, she utters, "I've spent hours on this. Let's hope it works!"

Star drags Amalia out the front door first, and she is taken aback by the scene around her. She was expecting to see the neighborhood of Echo Creek, with its yellowish-brownish houses in rows, interspersed with little green trees and bushes, but instead she sees the bustling city of New Archadia. Tall, towering houses of every color are lined up on either side, casting long shadows into the wide street, unlike the squat, monotonous houses of Echo Creek. She turns around to look behind her, from where she emerged, but the only thing there is a tall, metallic blue house similar to the ones around them. She watches as, to her amazement, her sisters, then Marco and his parents, emerge from this house's door. Even with magic, Amalia has no idea how Star could have managed it.

"How…"

Star responds proudly, "I put a two-way persistent portal in this abandoned house that leads straight to our front door!"

"Wow! I don't even know how to make a persistent portal!"

"Glossaryck taught me. It took more than a few tries, but I eventually got it."

Amalia looks around again at her hometown. "Wow… this is so cool, guys."

"You know what's even cooler?" Star pauses as if just catching herself before revealing a secret. "Let's go check out the castle!"

Amalia is eager to find out what this new surprise could be, so she sets off toward the castle, Ishtar and Illya on either side of her, and the rest following their lead.

They walk through a flea market, in which one vendor is selling carrots. Although this doesn't seem strange to Amalia, Star wonders, "Why would she just be selling just carrots, of all things?"

"Well," Amalia responds, "Draclord's carrots are sort of like Mewni's corn; people just can't get enough of them. We grow them in vast plantations by the millions; they're Draclord's main interdimensional export. And guess what? A Draclan carrot has five times the amount of nutrients of an Earth carrot! And they taste _way_ better." She walks over to the stand and asks for seven carrots. The saleswoman hands them over and says, "That'll be twenty centi-silkhas."

Amalia suddenly remembers that she doesn't have any Draclan money. She digs into all of her pockets but can't find anything helpful.

The saleswoman recognizes Amalia's struggle and decides, "No worries. I can make an exception for the Princess this one time."

"No, no, I'll pay you," Amalia protests. Then to her sister: "Ishtar, do you have any money?"

Ishtar digs around in her pockets and produces three silver coins. "Three centi-silkhas. Fine, but it's your birthday present." She hands two of them to the saleswoman.

"Thank you for your business, Princesses," says the saleswoman, giving them a little bow of her head.

"My pleasure," replies Amalia, returning the nod.

Amalia doles out the carrots, and everyone begins to munch on them. "Wow!" remarks Marco, "These are amazing! And to think I didn't like carrots until now!"

Star shrugs. "They're all right, I guess, but my allegiance to corn will never waver," she decides resolutely.

Not quite sure how to respond to Star, Amalia turns to Marco. "That's because those were Earth carrots. But if you think Draclan carrots are good plain, you should totally try a carrot cake—or even carrot pie! Carrot pie is the best! Maybe we'll have some at the castle you can try."

As she mentions it, Dalmasca Castle comes into view, dwarfing even the tower-like homes around them. A few minutes later, they arrive at the gate to the castle. The gatekeepers bow as Amalia approaches. The one on the left states, "Princess Amalia, Princess Ishtar, and Princess Illyasviel, welcome to you and your guests. You wish all four of them to accompany you?"

"Yes. Thank you, Rhodean," Amalia replies. The gates swing open, admitting the group of seven inside.

Now inside the castle grounds, Amalia heads for the entrance, which is just a few yards away, but Ishtar jumps in front of her. "Wait," she says. "This way, toward the stables!"

"The stables?" repeats Amalia in confusion. She really hopes they didn't bring her to the castle on her birthday just to shovel manure.

"You'll see!"

Ishtar takes the lead now, directing Amalia and the rest of them to the stables. They aren't just some normal horse stables; each one is fifteen feet tall, twenty wide, and who-knows-how deep. Illya and Ishtar each move forward to open a stable door. When they step aside, Ratha and a bright orange Rathalos, who Amalia knows to be named Irmani, are revealed. Ratha was shrunk in order to fit in better on Earth, but right before her are both dragons in full size, taking up every thousand-some cubic feet of their stables.

"Whoa…" murmurs Amalia in shock. "How did you get Ratha here?!"

Star holds up her dimensional scissors. "Lots and lots of cutting."

"Wow! And Ratha's normally sized!"

"We had some help from Mom with that," admits Illya.

Ishtar then breaks in: "So… what're we waiting for? Let's go for a ride!"

"C'mon!" Amalia calls, approaching Ratha and beckoning for Star and Marco to follow her. Marco, despite having ridden Ratha before, seems a bit tentative, but Star ends up pulling him along. Meanwhile, Illya and Ishtar are helping the Diaz parents mount Irmani. Ratha lays down on his stomach to allow Amalia, Star, and Marco to mount him, and the three climb on. Amalia gets on first, holding around Ratha's huge neck, with Marco behind her, his arms around her waist, and Star in the back holding on to Marco. Ratha scoots out of the stable backwards then awaits Irmani. It seems that the Diaz parents are having some difficulty mounting Irmani, whose back is even father off of the ground than Ratha's. From behind her, Amalia hears Star shout, " _Levitato_!" and suddenly Mr. and Mrs. Diaz float into the air, hovering over Irmani's back before being plopped down. Irmani then exits her stable, with her riders more or less secure.

Without warning, the two wyverns take off, reaching at least forty miles per hour in seconds, and they keep accelerating until the only sensations Amalia can register are Ratha's scaly neck, which she's holding onto for dear life, and the wind in her face. She tries to let out a shout of exhilaration, but the wind steals her breath away. Eventually, the two wyverns level out, slowing to about the pace of a car on the freeway. Looking down, even the largest and tallest of the Whitewood Trees below them look like thousands of needles sticking out of a giant, distant pincushion that was the Draclan landscape. The trees then fall away as they pass over extensive grasslands. The terrain below them shifts from a mat of green to yellow to finally a pale pinkish color. Amalia figures that they must have left the Bahamut Kingdom by now and maybe even entered into a neighboring realm. Amalia spares a glance at Irmani's passengers. Her sisters seem to be enjoying themselves as much as she is, while the Diazes look like they are… adjusting. Both appear to be fascinated but at the same time have a tinge of green in their faces.

All of a sudden, Amalia spots a silhouetted figure flying toward them. As it approaches, Amalia determines that it must be a winged species of wyvern, and, as it comes still nearer, she notices the rider's long, electric blue hair. Amalia is sure that she only knows one person with hair like that. "Kylar!"

"Amalia?"

"Yeah! Ratha, stop."

As Ratha slows and begins to hover, beating his enormous wings, Skylar pulls up next to them on a winged purple wyvern, which Amalia doesn't recognize. She, perhaps a bit too recklessly, scrambles across to her friend, sitting on her wyvern and hugging her. The feeling of Skylar's arms around her passes on some of the hope that Skylar always carries with her. It helps Amalia realize that her friend is not out of reach, that with some effort, hope, and luck, they can be friends again.

Amalia finally pulls away. "It's so good to see you, Kylar," she murmurs.

"You too, Mali." She smiles widely, bringing in Amalia for another hug. "Happy birthday," she says. "I was worried that I wouldn't get to see you, now that you live on Earth and all, so I was flying toward Bahamut in the hopes that you'd happen to be visiting your family, and, well… here you are!"

"It's been too long."  
"Yeah, it has."

"But you don't hate me?"

Skylar laughs halfheartedly. "No, that's just Opa's job. For now, anyway."

From Ratha's back, Star calls out, "Hey, you're the person I was talking with on Amalia's phone, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah, I am," replies Skylar. "I'm Skylar, Princess of Meterolia and the Realm of the Bolt. Oh, and you're… Marco, right? We've met."

"Oh, um… yeah," Marco stammers, waving back feebly.

Skylar looks back to Amalia. "Well, I know we just reunited after so long—well, for real, you know, not like at Wall-Mart—but… I have to go. I know, I'm sorry, but I didn't exactly tell my parents that I was leaving, so I want to get back before they send out a search party 'cause, well that wouldn't be good, you know…" she trails off. "But I _will_ see you again soon, Mali, I promise."

Amalia sighs. She knew this was coming, but she still isn't quite prepared to watch her friend leave her again. "See you soon, then, Kylar."

There is an awkward silence in which neither of the two girls moves. Skylar finally breaks it, reminding Amalia, "You're on my wyvern."

"Oh. Oh, right. Well, safe travels, then," Amalia stammers, slipping back onto Ratha. Even though she is sad to watch her friend fly away, she notices that she is smiling as Skylar vanishes into the distance. "Well, I think we still have some more flying to do! Let's go, Ratha!" Ratha falls straight into a nosedive, twisting around and around like some mad roller coaster, pulling up at just the last second. Amalia can swear that she sees Ratha smirk at Marco's greenish face.

Irmani pulls up next to Ratha, and Illya shouts over the wind, "So, Amalia? You like it?"  
"Like it? This is the best birthday ever!" Her stomach lurches into her throat then back down somewhere near her legs as the two wyverns ride off into the distance.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this birthday special to commemorate the anniversary of this story. me and Mario will get the next set of chapters out as soon as we can so we ask for your continued patience. Thank you all for continuing to read and I hope you all have an amazing day, Keyblade out!**


	16. Chapter 15: The Dragons of Hahkasha

**A/N: Well here we are again: another chapter! It is VERY long (part of the reason for the long wait, among other things), so I'll keep the A/N brief. For those of you who don't have the order of the episodes memorized, this chapter is based on Pixtopia, but I thought I'd put a little—well, maybe more than a little—spin on it! Dragons! (You'll have to read for the rest.)**

 **Reviews:**

 **Nuura- I think you've asked this already, but the answer is no. If you remember, Keyblade confirmed that Amalia had never dated before at the end of chapter 12.**

 **Tango Mike (Ch 14) - I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and also thank you for suggestions! I'm kinda leaving the Draclord lore to Keyblade (he's the expert). Being that this chapter is based on Pixtopia, we're going to see another dimension, Erythria, in this chapter, which we may (or may not) revisit, we'll see. You had a good point about the Star-Amalia relationship, which I've taken into consideration for this chapter.**

 **Guest 1 - Thanks! It is difficult sometimes to remember everything, which is where those character bios help.**

 **Tango Mike (Ch 15) - Well here's the next chapter for you! And on the shipping aspect… well, let's just say that Keyblade and I have something up our sleeves. ;)**

 **All right, let's do this!**

* * *

Chapter 15: The Dragons of Hahkasha

* * *

"Aw, I just love your little sisters, Amalia! I wish I had a sister," exclaimed Star. It was a Saturday, so they had school off. They were sitting in Star and Amalia's room, the two princesses sitting on the edges of their beds while Marco sat on the rug between them. Star couldn't quite remember how, but they had gotten onto the topic of their tour of Draclord on the Diaz parents' anniversary.

"Heh. That's what they all say," was Amalia's response. "All the only children."

"I dunno, but I think your sisters are really cool!" Star maintained.

"I'd have to agree," added Marco.

"I mean… yeah, they're pretty great," Amalia relented. "Hey! You wanna call them on the mirror?"

"Yeah, of course!" Star said excitedly, while Marco settled for a simple "Sure!"

The three of them got up and made their way over to the mirror, which was opposite the room from Star's, and pulled back the curtains draped over it. "Mirror, call Illyasviel and Ishtar Dalmasca!" As it rang, Amalia explained to Marco, "If someone doesn't have a compact or their own home mirror, you can say their name, and it'll call whichever mirror in the multiverse is closest to them. Kinda like those telly-fone booths."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how telephone booths work—"

He was cut off when little Illya and slightly-less-little Ishtar's faces appeared on the mirror. The two appeared to be in the throne room of Dalmasca Castle, from what little of the background she could see. (Illya was a bit too close to the mirror, and her head took up more than half of it.) Ishtar, however, was the first to speak. "What do you need our help with now, Amalia?" she questioned skeptically. "You didn't steal Opaline's pet wyvern again, did you?"

"Of course not! Why do always assume I'm up to something?" Amalia complained.

"Because you usually are."

Amalia sighed. "Fair point. But we're not calling to ask for help. We just wanna… chat!"

Ishtar just raised an eyebrow and said, "Riiiiight…"

But Illya interrupted. "Hey! You're the girl with the devil horns!" she exclaimed.

"Her name's Star," Ishtar corrected, pulling Illya back a few feet so that her nose wasn't in the mirror. With the younger girl's face out of the way—as adorable as it was—Star was now sure she recognized Dalmasca Castle's throne room.

"Oh, I don't mind," Star replied.

There was a lull in the conversation, so Amalia spoke up: "What've I missed back in Draclord?"

"Umm…" that was Ishtar. "Oh! I heard that two dragon eggs that we were keeping tabs on went missing! Crazy, huh? They could've hatched, but it would have been way too early. It's almost like someone took them."

"Oh, hehe… yeah, strange," Amalia stuttered.

Ishtar looked like she was about to say something, but she was cut off by Illya: "Palmero's here!"

"Oh yeah," Ishtar explained. "There's been a lot of meeting recently between the monarchs of the Five Realms. Mom has been away at Dianaria and Meterolia the last two weeks. Now King Oceano of Coastland is here, and he brought Palmero. That's his son, the prince." She added the last part for Star's and Marco's benefits. "I've been investigating, but I still haven't got any idea what it's all about. They only meet in the soundproofed conference room. No sign of Queen Emerald, though. That's Opaline's mom."

"Huh," replied Amalia. "Maybe Gemnia started tariffing foreign jewel imports again?"

Ishtar didn't look convinced. "Maybe…. But I feel like it's something big. Bigger than tariffs, I mean. They're being super secretive, and mom won't tell me a thing. She always looks kinda sad, too, when she comes out of the meetings."

Amalia thought back to the letter Skylar had given her, which she had refused to read. Had something happened in Gemnia? She should read it, she decided. Why had she refused to read it anyway? She'd just been holding onto old grudges! She made her way over to her nightstand, where she had remembered seeing the folded-up note the other day. But as she searched for it, she quickly discovered it wasn't there. "I'm gonna look for something," Amalia told her friends distractedly. "You keep talking with Ishtar and Illya." She dashed down the stairs.

Star and Marco looked at each other. "I'm… gonna go help Amalia. You can stay and talk to Ishtar and Illya," Marco decided, before rushing down the stairs after their friend.

Star had half a mind to help Amalia too, but she also wanted to keep talking to Amalia's sisters, and she supposed it would be rude to just leave in the middle of their conversation, and Marco had told her to stay. So she did, starting up the conversation again. "Do you miss Ratha?" she asked.

"Well, Ratha has always been more exclusively Amalia's pet, but—"

But Illya interrupted. "Dad doesn't really like Ratha 'cause he says that he's dangerous and _irresponsible_ , so Ishtar pretends she doesn't like Ratha too 'cause she's a suck-up. She actually does like playing with Ratha though."

"Hey!"

"You can't say it's not true, though!"

"Fine, but it's just because I'm the older sister when Amalia's gone, so I have to be _responsible."_

Star giggled, realizing that this was what Amalia was implying when she had said, _That's what they all say._ While Ishtar must have been annoyed, Star just found it more or less endearing.

In the ensuing silence, she heard hushed voices from a distance. At first she thought it was Marco and Amalia, but then she realized that they originated from the other side of the mirror.

"Oh! That must be Mom and King Oceano just leaving the conference room. I might be able to hear something!"

"See?" said Illya sarcastically. " _So_ responsible."

Star laughed but regained her composure when Ishtar's head poked back into the picture. "Oh, and Star? Don't forget to hang up the call. Illya always forgets."

"Yeah, yeah, okay…" Star replied distractedly.

But Ishtar was already off.

"Well, how do _you_ like Ratha then, Illya?" Star prompted.

"Ratha's _awesome_!" she replied excitedly, "Ratha can fly, and breathe fire, and play fetch!"  
 _Huh_ , Star thought, _I guess even giant wyverns like to play fetch!_

She was brought back by Marco's shout from somewhere downstairs, "Hey, Star! Can you come down?"

"Yeah, sure!" she shouted in reply. Then to Illya: "Bye, Illya! Talk to you soon!"  
"Bye, Star!" Illya responded, but Star was already halfway down the stairs. "Huh, I wonder if Ishtar got any info," she said to herself, racing off to find her sister.

* * *

 _5 minutes earlier_

Amalia was using her sword to open a high cabinet in the kitchen—to no avail—when she saw Marco. She started, causing the sword to slip, then bounce off the counter and clatter to the ground, nearly taking her leg off in the process. "Oh, h-hi Marco!" she stuttered in surprise—both at his appearance and the near loss of one of her limbs.

"What are you looking for?" Marco asked her.

"Oh, it's just… Kylar's note. I could've sworn it was on my nightstand…"

"Oh, it's all right! I took a picture of it, just in case!" He took out his phone and tapped it a few times, "See, here…"

But the image was of nothing more than a crumpled, blank scrap of paper. There were black streaks, as if whatever had once been on the paper had been erased or smudged off. "W-what?" stuttered Marco.

"Probably magic. Related to memory-wipe spells. Actually, now that I think about it, the Bijous are known for memory spells. I've never seen Opa… Opaline, I mean, perform a full memory-wipe, but something like this would be totally within her ability. She probably didn't want me reading it, huh? And the physical copy is probably gone too."

Marco looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't decide whether or not to say it. Then he finally said, "Opaline sent Skylar to take it back in the middle of the night like a week ago. I caught her—"

"Wait, you said a week ago?"

"Well, maybe 5 or 6 days…."

Her face fell. "It's been that long, and I haven't noticed that it's been gone until now?"

"Well… no, I guess not. But anyway, I caught Skylar in the middle of the night, and she told me Opaline was making her do it. She was the one who told me to take the picture…. She still wants to be friends with you, she's just… scared of Opaline, I think. Not scared of her, but scared to lose her friendship."

Now Amalia's chin fell to her chest. "I'm such a terrible friend…!"

"No, Amalia, you're not. You've got Star and I as proof."

Amalia smiled. "Thanks."

"Tell you what," Marco said. "It would be hard for you to go talk to her, but I've met Skylar; she knows me. I'll take Star's scissors to go try to find Skylar and ask her about the note, okay?"

Amalia smiled wider, almost genuinely now. "Thank you."

Marco smiled back. "Of course."

Then Amalia realized that she was sending Marco off into a foreign dimension alone. "Wait… you should take Gabranth and Sally with you. They'll be able to help you get around and protect you. I think they're both up in Sally's room."

"Yeah. That's a great idea. But I'll need Star's scissors." Then he called, "Hey, Star! Can you come down?"

A moment later, she came barreling down the stairs. "Hey Marco! Need something?"

"Yeah, um, can I borrow your scissors? I need to to go to Draclord for a bit."

"Sure!" She said handing them over. Then, she inquired, "What for?"

He exchanged a glance with Amalia, whose expression told him anything but _Go ahead_. "It's… uhhhh… a surprise!"

"Ooh! I love surprises! Wait, don't spoil it!"

"Don't worry, I won't. Hey, don't forget to stick together since you only have one way home. Bye!" He ran up the stairs to go find Gabranth and Sally.

"So, what're we gonna do until Marco gets back?" Amalia wondered.

Star let out a long and prolonged gasp. "I've been wanting to try making my _own_ version of Marco's nachos! Now that Marco's gone, I should totally do that! Just sit tight for a few minutes, then you can experience total nacho bliss!" Star started to drool but quickly shook off the expression, heading for the kitchen, from whence Amalia heard loud noises that sounded like several pieces of cookware striking the tile, followed by a clatter of utensils and the dull _thud_ of something heavy hitting the floor. Amalia was a bit worried, but with magic, they should be able to fix anything Star broke, deformed, ruptured, bent, punctured, or otherwise damaged.

Amalia wandered over to the couch, where she found the remote. She still wasn't completely sure how to use it, but she managed to turn on the TV. A commercial for some vacuum cleaner was on, so she pressed a few buttons, and the credits of a movie were scrolling down the screen. After that, a new movie started, although she couldn't hear much of it due to Star's clanging and clattering in the kitchen. What she managed to grasp from the visuals was that the two kids had drunk some milk then all the goats had turned into satyrs, the insects into fairies, etc. Amalia had never seen a satyr in the flesh before, but she had heard that a small population of them lived in the dimension Erythria. It was what Marco would call a "fantasy" movie, even though the things in it actually did exist, because Earth people didn't believe that they did.

At that moment, Star came barrelling out of the kitchen with a plate of nachos. They actually looked surprisingly like Marco's, a tower of triangular chips covered in nacho cheese; Amalia was impressed. Star set them down on the table with a bit too much force, nearly causing the whole thing to topple, and plopped down next to Amalia. Amalia grabbed a chip and took a big bite.

"Sooo, how is it?" Star queried.

Amalia had to try her best not to gag on Star's nacho, which tasted something like how Amalia imagined that coal would taste. She looked down at the rest of the chip and realized that the part not covered in cheese was black. "They're... uhhhhh… great!" she lied. "So great that"— she pushed the plate toward Star—"I think _you_ should have them! You were the one who made them, after all."

"Awww, thanks Amalia! You're the best!"

The compliment made Amalia smile, although she did realize that she probably didn't deserve it. "Uh… yeah. Any time!"

Luckily for Amalia, Star changed the subject. "So, what're you watching?"

"Oh, it was… well, something about a haven, I think, but I'm not sure. It's one of those 'fantasy' movies that Marco told us about.

"Oh, cool!" They settled in and watched the movie.

About an hour and a half later, Amalia felt her compact buzz in her pocket. She took it out. There was a text message, which read:

 **Dragon Data Service, Inc.**

You have exceeded your data limit for this month. A bill for ⸹5 will be delivered to your place of residence within five days, unless the bill is manually paid at our headquarters, located at:

Suite 49, N Fireblaze Dr,

Hahkasha City, Rupendorf District

The Confederation of Eidolonium

Erythria Dimension

"But how…" Amalia began. Then she looked at Star. "You didn't forget to hang up the call to my sisters, did you?"

Star's face fell. "Well, on my wall mirror, it hangs up automatically when you walk away. Is there a problem?"

"Well, yeah. I was just on a long-distance call for two hours! And to make it worse, the castle mirror is on the same plan as mine, so it counted double! Now I'm way over our plan limit, and we owe the phone company 5 sihlkas!"  
"That doesn't sound like too much, at least."  
"I don't know the exact exchange rate, but a sihlka is worth at least twenty times as much as a dollar."

Star cringed. "Yikes. But your parents have a lot of money, right?"

"Well, yes, but let's just say they weren't too happy last time we went over on our data. Let's go hang up the mirror, at least."

They went upstairs and approached the mirror, but just as Amalia began to say "Hang up," Ishtar appeared in the mirror, shouting, "Wait! Are you gonna go to Erythria to pay the bill yourself so that Mom and Dad don't find out?"

"Well, yeah. I've got to, really. Remember last time this happened?"

"I'm coming with you!"

Amalia began to protest, but then Illya came into view. "I'm in too!" she said.

Ishtar turned around as if surprised to see her there. "No, Illya. You're too young…"

"I am _not_."

"Well you're not coming."

"Fine. Then I'll just go tell mom."

" _Neither_ of you are coming!" Amalia declared.

"Then we'll just go tell mom," retorted Ishtar and Illya in unison."

"Ugh, fine! I'll pick you up on the way. Mirror, hang up." The mirror went blank, and Amalia turned to Star. "See, this was what I was talking about. _So_ annoying."

Star just giggled in response.

"All right then, let's go," said Amalia resignedly. "Like Marco said, we've got to stick together since you don't have your scissors. She made a vertical cut with her sword, opening up a portal. Star jumped in, Amalia following behind her. They appeared in the throne room of Dalmasca Castle, where Ishtar and Illya were awaiting them.

"Oh hey, you actually came!" remarked Ishtar. "I've got the five sihlkas."

"Oh yeah, thanks. And I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't," Amalia explained in exasperation. "All right, let's do this." She cut a portal and the four jumped through to a distant land.

* * *

 ** _Hahkasha City, The Confederation of Eidolonium, Erythria Dimension_**

Amalia, Star, Ishtar, and Illya emerged into a bustling city. There was one defining characteristic that made it far different from any other city Amalia had ever visited: the size. The buildings around them towered so high that she couldn't see where they ended, and the other dimensions were just about proportional. Above it all, giant, winged, scaly creatures soared far overhead. Dragons. Amalia felt the air whoosh by her as two juvenile dragons flew past them. They seemed to be racing each other, with a silvery one out in front and a shiny red one flying behind. The red one reared back its head and blew out a weak little tongue of flame, which singed the silver one's tail. She (Amalia was getting "she" vibes from the silver dragon) let out what sounded like a yelp. While she was distracted, the other dragon zipped ahead of her. She let out a huff and began accelerating again, already gaining on the red dragon as they soared out of view, both making a sound which sounded awfully similar to human laughter.

While the four of them watched the fledglings, a large teal dragon landed behind them gracefully, almost without a sound. Then he said, in a deep echoey voice that rang out like a chorus of twenty people were saying the words at once, " **Hello, travelers**."

All four of them whirled around; Star and Amalia even drew their weapons. Surprisingly, the dragon just stood there. When Star noticed that it was a dragon who had spoken, she recoiled, taking a step back. "Whoa!" she uttered. "That dragon can talk?"

The dragon smiled wryly. " **Yes, all dragons talk—we speak nearly all languages. We are just starting to learn the languages of some of the dandelions, but plants are mostly excepted.** " Star just gawked up at it without saying a word. The dragon seemed rather amused at this. " **It can be difficult to get around this place for creatures of your size. Need a ride?** "

"Yeah… um, th-thanks!" stuttered Amalia, finally overcoming the shock of seeing a real dragon this close.

Illya, however seemed unaffected. She trotted up to the dragon curiously and patted his nose (this one was definitely male). "Aww, what's your name?" He snorted out some icy steam and shook his head in response, moving out of reach of the curious girl.

In especially dignified and perhaps deeper tone, he said, " **You may call me Deglaciei.** " He pronounced it "duh-GLAY-shyay."

"That's so cool!" said Illya excitedly. "Does it mean something?"

" **It is Silvian for 'of ice.' I am a frostodragon.** "

Before Illya could ask what Silvian or a frostodragon was, Amalia cut her off. "We do need a ride, actually. Could you take us to the Dragon Data Service headquarters?"

" **Of course!** " he responded. " **That's why most of you humanoids come—to pay off your data overages. Which, I've ought to say, is kind of ironic. Here, climb on.** "

With less difficulty than Amalia had expected, she, Star, Ishtar, and Illya all managed to comfortably mount Deglaciei, whose back seemed to be shaped perfectly for riders.

" **Hold on tight! I'm not liable if one of you falls off.** " Deglaciei beat his wings and began running, and they took off. Within moments, they were flying above the tallest of the buildings around them. Well, all except for one building, which rose up into the clouds in the distance, probably at least ten miles away. It was this building that they seemed to be heading for.

After a while, they levelled off, and the ride became actually quite smooth. Star attempted to shout something from behind Amalia, but her words were lost in the wind rushing by them with all the power and noise of a steam train. Luckily, Amalia knew just the spell to help people be heard over the rushing wind. She had learned it from her mom when they had flown to Coastland five years ago, which had been the first time she had met Palmero. She deftly swung herself around to sit backwards on the dragon, facing Star. She drew her sword, pointed it at Star, and said, " _Amplius Vosis_!" She repeated the spell on herself.

Star tried to speak again, and this time her voice boomed out just loudly enough to combat the howling of the wind. "Hey Amalia!"

"Hey!" Amalia returned, her voice also audible.

"So, what exactly is the difference between wyverns and dragons?"  
"Well, dragons can talk, and wyverns can't."

"Well, duh."

"Also"—she peeked around the edge of Deglaciei's back, gesturing to the four legs—"they have more legs than wyverns. "Usually four, while wyverns usually have two."

Star didn't look likely to risk checking. "I'll take your word for it."

"Also, they have pretty much humanoid intelligence."

" **Superior than humanoid intelligence, if I do say** ," protested Deglaciei, his voice loud enough that he didn't need magic for it to carry to them.

"Oh, all right," Amalia conceded. She finger-quoted to Star, "Superior intelligence."

Star giggled. "Depends on the humanoid, if you ask me."

"Yeah, true. They also all have different 'breath weapons.' Pyrodragons are the most common, and they breathe fire. Frostodragons like Deglaciei breathe ice. Electrodragons breathe electricity, Acrodragons breathe acid or poison, Sanodragons breathe healing gas, and Mesmodragons, the rarest ones, breath mesmerizing gas. I think I might be forgetting some, but that's the general idea."

As the conversation died, Ishtar tapped Amalia, unable to speak audibly, and pointed at a field of row upon row of fifty-foot-tall orange trees. But they weren't trees with orange fruits. Nor did they have the telltale orange leaves of autumn. No, these trees had vibrant, almost blinding orange bark, with blue leaves and pink fruits for good measure. The blue leaves even seemed to be glowing.

"Wow," mouthed Star, who had turned to look too.

"I wonder what caused them to grow like that," wondered Amalia.

" **That is a natural power plant** ," Deglaciei remarked. " **Those trees' leaves actually absorb all light—unlike green trees which reflect green light—which makes them much more efficient photosynthesizers. That would make the leaves black, except that the leaves emit the extra energy as nearly-ultraviolet light, which is absorbed and converted to energy in those little pink balls you see. That's how we power the cities. Well, those and donations from electrodragons.** "

Oh. So those weren't fruits. But by the time she looked again, they had left the power-forest far behind.

Finally, they arrived at the towering building. Deglaciei swooped down and went into a nosedive, pulling up just before the ground. Star screamed so loudly that Amalia was sure she could have heard her even without the voice-amplifying spell.

As they slid off the dragon's back, Amalia said casually, "Did something happen? 'Cause you were screaming pretty loudly..."

"Oh, shut it."

With the Dragon Data company's headquarters right in front of them, Amalia suddenly realized just how massive it was. It stretched up as high as Amalia could see until it disappeared above the fluffy white clouds that coated the pale blue sky, and it seemed to extend endlessly both to her left and to her right. Somewhere far, far above them, Amalia could make out an orange smudge on the building which, if she were close enough to read, she assumed would have said, **DRAGON DATA SERVICE, INC.** There were colossal doors in front of him, which Amalia was sure could easily fit two Deglacieis stacked on top of each other. Deglaciei used one of his front legs to nudge open the door, as if it didn't weigh thousands of pounds, and said, " **Here you are, Dragon Data Services headquarters.** "

"THA—" Amalia started, before she realized that her voice was still amplified. She whispered, " _Reductus Vosis_." Then she repeated, "Thanks!" now at normal volume. Then, suddenly, something occurred to her. "Oh… we don't have extra money."

" **The pleasure is mine. I require no fee.** "

"Then how do you get by?"

" **Paid by the government. It's part of the new initiative to boost tourism.** "

"Ah. Well, I would give you a tip if I could."

" **Thank you for the thought. Well, I must get going. More tourists to transport.** "

As he backed up and began beating his wings, the four girls shouted their goodbyes. Star's was an especially vociferous, "SEE YOU SOON!"

Amalia returned Star's voice to normal. "Why did you say 'See you soon'? We're not going to see him again."

"Oh yeah? How do you know?" Star retorted.

By then, the dragon was gone.

"Well, let's go!" shouted Illya, dashing inside. Star dashed after her.

"Illya!" shouted Ishtar, chasing after her sister.

Amalia shouted, "Star!" and followed after her friend.

Just inside the doors, Ishtar managed to grasp her younger sister. "Illya, we don't know what's in here—"

" **Who goes here?** " bellowed another dragon. He was behind a desk, so Amalia took him to be the receptionist. He was even larger than Deglaciei and had sleek red scales, but with patches of blue.

"Princesses Amalia, Ishtar, and Illyasviel Dalmasca of Bahumat, Draclord, and Princess Star Butterfly of Mewni," responded Amalia confidently.

He seemed to take down notes. " **And why are you here?** "

"To pay a data overage."

" **And who owns the account that you are paying for?** "

Amalia gulped. "O-Okita Dalmasca." Hopefully this didn't get back to her mom.

She heard the sound of typing on a keyboard, even though she couldn't see the computer, as his desk was so tall that she couldn't see what was on top.

" **Ah. Here it is. Five sihlkas?** "

"Yes," said Ishtar, taking them out. "I have them here."  
" **Oh, we don't accept Draclan tender. The exchange rates are** _ **ridiculous**_ **right now.** "

"Then… what do you accept?" asked Star.

" **You'll see, you'll see…. Now, right this way.** "

A door at the end of the hall opened of its own accord.

"Now, hold up guys," protested Ishtar. "Let's just stop and..." Then she noticed Illya slipping through the door into whatever lay beyond. "...think for a moment," Ishtar grumbled as she chased after Illya, the two older girls in pursuit.

The new room was cylindrical, with perhaps a fifty-foot radius, and stretched upward as far as Amalia could see. Its vastness was emphasized by the pure emptiness of the atrium; the only feature was a narrow staircase that spiraled up into nonexistence, clinging to the wall. It lead up to several giant holes that pockmarked the wall, giving the impression that they were inside an immense block of Swiss cheese, except for the fact that the wallpaper was sky blue with fluffy white clouds. Above each opening, there were bronze plaques, most of them too far away to read. However, the nearest of them—only up a hundred stairs or so—was legible, and read:

 **OVERAGE PAYMENT**

"It'd be right through there, then," said Star decidedly, setting off toward the stairs. As she approached them, she stopped in her tracks and said, "Whoa… yikes!" There were no rails or anything to keep them from falling off the stairwell. Their destination was at least fifty feet up—a fall near the top could only be fatal. The narrow staircase left no room for error. One misstep, and you were going over. Obviously, the dragons didn't understand much about humanoid safety. "Well… we'll have to be extra careful, I guess."

"No kidding," agreed Ishtar, her voice trembling slightly. "Single file then, I guess."  
"Star, wand out; in case someone falls, we might be able to save them with magic," suggested Amalia as she drew her own magical sword.

They went up single-file, with Amalia out in front, Star in the back, Ishtar in the middle, and Illya weaving in and out of them, apparently unaffected by the height. After what felt like an hour of climbing (although it was probably only about fifteen minutes), they were nearly to the top. Amalia, against her better instincts, looked down at the hard tile floor far below them, and she swallowed hard. It wasn't exactly that she was afraid of heights, just… well, anything could happen, couldn't it, and if something did happen, that person was a goner.

"I'm… so… tired…" Illya complained, her original vigor gone.

"It's just a little bit farther, Illya. Just a little farther," Ishtar encouraged her.

Then it all happened at once.

Illya was evidently so tired that she didn't pick up her leg high enough, causing her toes to catch on the edge of the step. She tumbled forward, grasping Amalia's ankle for stability and letting out a shout. At this, Amalia panicked and jumped away, but with one leg still trapped, she misstepped and fell toward the edge of the stairs, her sword flying out of her hand and clattering somewhere on the staircase. Her blue hair hung in a curtain around her face so that she couldn't see anything as she hung off the edge of the stairs. Then her ankle slipped from her youngest sister's grasp, and she was falling. Down, down down…

She felt the wind rushing all around her as she thrashed around, still unable to see. She felt something magical touch her wrist, but her flailing threw it off before she knew what it was. She finally got her hair out of the way, only to see the ground a mere ten feet away. She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Suddenly, a yellowish, warm sensation filled her, and she was floating in place, so close to the ground that her nose was almost touching it. Then she began to rise. She watched the staircase curl around and around as she rose, finally spotting her sisters and her best friend.

"Amalia!" shouted Star. "You're all right!"

"I'm so sorry, Amalia!" shouted Illya.

But Ishtar was silent. She was holding Amalia's sword, which appeared gold before her, reflecting the golden aura that surrounded Ishtar and radiated from her eyes, which were wide open and had turned golden.

Amalia was set back down on the staircase before her sister returned to normal.

Star erupted into a speedy commentary. "Oh my corn! All of a sudden, you were just hanging there, and then you fell, and I tried to send down a rope to catch you, but it missed, and then Ishtar grabbed your sword and all of a sudden she turned all golden and stuff, and we looked down, and you were surrounded in a golden cloud-thing, and… yeah!"

Amalia blinked, only understanding half of what Star had said. But before she could clarify, Ishtar said confidently, "Let's get off this staircase."

"Good idea," said Amalia rhetorically.

They reached the entrance without any more incidents and entered a room lit only by the light from the atrium outside.

The nearest thing was a desk, which was the same enormous size as the receptionist's and went all the way to the floor, this time with a shiny black female dragon behind it.

"How do we pay our data overage?" Amalia demanded, feeling stupid as she was reminded that that whole near-death experience had been for nothing but to pay off a data overage.

" **Ah, by manual labor, of course.** " As she spoke, a fragrance wafted over them. It was like the best thing Amalia had ever smelled, soothing, relaxing, so much so that she could feel her eyes drooping, her mind clouding as though she were drifting off to sleep. " **This is your last chance to return from whence you came and pay automatically. After this point, Dragon Data takes no responsibility for what becomes of you.** "

Even though her words should have been frightening, they didn't feel that way. They felt welcoming and comforting, like she was inviting them to tea. She opened her mouth and blew another plume of fragrance at them.

"Well, I definitely don't want to go back down those stairs again," said Star dreamily.

" **Yes, yes, I see. Treacherous is the world back there, isn't it? But you're safe here. Just one question, please. What name is your service under?** "

"Okita Dalmasca," Amalia replied pleasantly.

" **Ah, I see. Five sihlkas, is it? Well, that's not too bad, only five years or so. We won't make you pay that, but we'll just need a little favor from you in return. Will you help us out?** "

Despite the fact that Ishtar already had the money, all four of the girls nodded eagerly at the prospect of this kind gesture.

" **May I have your weapons? You've been carrying them around all day, and they must be** _ **so heavy**_ **. Let me hold them here for you.** " A hole opened up near the bottom of the desk, where they could reach.

Suddenly, even Star's wand felt much too heavy to be carrying around, so Star and Amalia each handed over their magical weapons, with only a little hesitation. Illya stepped forward and handed over a hair tie that she had been keeping on her wrist, which the dragon didn't seem to know what to do with.

" **Thank you! You're all such nice, cooperative girls, aren't you? Now, off you go.** "

As her calming breath weapon began to wear off, panic set in. _What had they just agreed to?_ Amalia got her answer as five faceless robot-like creatures appeared behind them and snapped handcuffs on their wrists. Even weaponless, it took two of them to incapacitate Amalia: one to hold her down and one to snap the cuffs around her wrists. It seemed that she had been the first to come out of the daze, as Ishtar seemed to have just snapped back to reality, while Illya and Star still looked starry-eyed. Either way, they were all being forced deeper into the room until the atrium's light was all but extinguished, leaving them in total darkness.

Amalia was lifted up and into something, sitting down on what felt like wood. Illya was plopped down next to Amalia. She had apparently come to, ask she was curled up against Amalia and stuttered, "W-w-where are we g-going, A-Amalia?"  
"I don't know, Illya, but we're going to be all right."  
"You're sure?"  
"Yeah." Amalia hated lying, but Illya seemed to be satisfied with that, as she stopped shivering.

Amalia heard, rather then saw, two more people plopped down across from them, and then whatever they were sitting in started to move. It was slow at first, but they soon reached a cliff and plummeted downward. It soon turned into a roller coaster of sorts—tight turns, dips, and even loops—but without restraints, and in total darkness.

"We're gonna dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" shouted Ishtar's voice as they plummeted down another steep drop.

" _Luminous Light Bulb!_ " Star tried, but without her wand it didn't do much good.

Meanwhile, Ishtar repeated hysterically, "We're so dead, we're so dead, we're so dead…"

Without warning, the cart came to an abrupt stop. Inertia threw all four girls out of the cart, leaving them sprawled on top of one another. Ishtar groaned, which made Amalia realize that her heel lay on Ishtar's face. She quickly stood up, and as she did she realized that the manacles were gone. She scanned their surroundings, but the only thing in sight, due to the poor visibility, was a small lantern a few paces away. She just barely managed to not tread over Star's stomach as she approached it and held it up. By the time everyone else was in their feet, Amalia had found a wooden sign on a rocky wall, which read,

 **Take the lantern**

 **Follow the path**

which was woefully unhelpful, since you had to take the lantern to see the sign, and there didn't appear to be a path in sight. Amalia held the lantern near the rocky floor of the cavern, to no avail. She had to get down on her hands and knees, and put her face down inches from the ground before she noticed a wide band of rock that was a slightly different shade from the rest of the floor. It was barely discernible in the permeating darkness. Even though she couldn't see them, Amalia called out to her friend and sisters, "I found a path!"

Ishtar appeared faintly, just within the edge of the bubble of light that the lantern provided. "But do we follow it?" she questioned.

That was a good point. Amalia stood there for a moment in silence, but when no one else offered any input (where _were_ they anyway?), Amalia was forced to say, "Where else would we go?"

Ishtar looked longingly back at the mine cart track from which they had come, but she said nothing.

"There's no way we're getting back through there. I think we're gonna have to follow the path. Star? Illya?"

"Yeah, Amalia?"

But only Star had responded.

The cavern was soon filled with choruses of "Illya?!" Yet no response came.

Amalia sighed. "Let's hope she followed the path, then."

They soon found out that the path's sole purpose was to keep them from bumping into the walls that hugged it on either side and only left one direction to go—forward. Although, Amalia could definitely complain that the path was not accomplishing its job very well in the darkness, as she, Star and Ishtar had to walk like zombies with their arms out, and even then they couldn't prevent a few bruises on their heads. They couldn't exactly tread slowly and cautiously, either, as Illya was up ahead, who knew how far away.

They followed the winding path for about five minutes before it opened up into another cavern. This one was better lit, with torches containing some luminescent purplish substance. As they came around the final bend, they heard Illya's voice: "Hi! Who are you?"  
Whoever she was talking to responded, "My name is Ra'Shivak. How did a sweet little girl like you end up here?" The person seemed rather concerned.

"Oh, I came with my sisters to pay for going over our data limit. Didn't expect to end up in here though!"

"Yes, that's how we all ended up here, isn't it? How long are you stuck in here for?"  
"Five years, I think."  
"Ah. That's really not too bad. I think I still have twenty-five left. But the rumors say they never really let you leave, just send you off somewhere else to live out the rest of your life."

"Illya!" shouted Amalia excitedly, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she was met with a bangaa. She tried to draw her sword, before remembering that it was gone. Instead she stared at the bangaa suspiciously and beckoned her sister under her breath, "Illya! Illya, come here!"

Instead of moving, Illya proclaimed cheerily, "Here's my sisters, Amalia and Ishtar, and that one's Star; she's like Amalia's sister." Star was touched at the mention of her being Amalia's "sister," but Amalia was still wary. "Amalia, Ishtar, Star, this is Ra'Shivak, my new friend!"

"Illya, that's a bangaa!" whispered Amalia under her breath, although the bangaa could quite clearly hear her.

"Now, now, I assure you that I mean you four no harm, Amalia, is it? I'm just a victim like the rest of us."

" _Us?_ " repeated Amalia.

"Hey, everyone! We have newcomers!" shouted Ra'Shivak. One by one, faces began to appear out of the darkness. Only a scarce minority were humanoids; there was a wide diversity of species, colors, and sizes, including a handful of bangaa, two unicorn heads, a wide range of monsters and other nonhuman species, and even one cat with a human face.

At the sight of the last creature, Star let out a little scream. Then she whispered to Amalia, "I'm sorry… they're just so creepy!"

"I know, right?"

They were cut off by Ra'Shivak: "We're all like a big family down here. We'll be sad to see you go in five short years, although I'm sure that seems like a dauntingly long time for you. Most of us have been in here for twenty years or more."  
"Right," said Ishtar skeptically, "but what exactly are we doing down here?"

"Well, it's a raw mythril mine, of course."

" _Mythril?_ " repeated Amalia incredulously. "But mythril only exists on Draclord!"

Ra'Shivak shrugged. "Apparently not. For any more questions, I'll turn you over to the work manager, Ragok." He stepped back into the crowd.

A furry orange… well, a furry orange _something_ stepped out of the crowd. None of the girls had ever seen anything like him—a sort of bipedal cyclops covered in fur, with long arms that hung almost to his ankles. He had a rather large belly and wore no clothes but his fur, which covered him up decently enough. "Hello there, newcomers! I'm Ragok, a furglot. And you are?"

"Star."

"Illya." When Ishtar and Amalia just gave the furglot suspicious looks and refused to respond, she elaborated, "And they're Ishtar and Amalia."

"Anyway, welcome to all of you. The Company gives us a quota of twenty grams of mythril per creature, per day. Of course, those of us who are most able are happy to make up the deficit that those who are less able make. However, your quotas will not start until tomorrow, so you can have the rest of the day to plot your escape plan, like we all did. And all failed, of course"

That wasn't very encouraging.

"Well, we must get back to work, but feel free to make yourselves at home."

The four of them found a corner to sit in together, out of earshot of all the others, who were back to pounding on the rock with picks. "Wow," commented Amalia. "I didn't expect that we'd be stuck with all these monsters! Especially _bangaa_!"

"But Amalia!" protested Illya. "They're nice monsters!"

Amali crossed her arms. "There's no such thing as a 'nice' bangaa."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I'm older than you." That was what Amalia always resorted to when she wanted to settle something.

Illya muttered something under her breath but didn't retaliate.

"I can't be stuck here for five years!" Star complained. "I'll be eighteen—"

"Nineteen," Ishtar corrected uninterestedly.

"—by then! My mom would _kill_ me!"

"Well," started Amalia gruffly, "it's all your fault we're here, isn't it? We wouldn't even be here if you could've just turned off the call!"

Star appeared stricken by Amalia's words. She eventually said quietly, "Fine then, if I'm such a bother, I'll leave." She stood and stomped off into the darkness.

It took all of fifteen seconds before Amalia dropped her head in her hands and groaned, "I'm sorry, Star; I didn't mean it like that…"

Ishtar, unimpressed, remarked, "Don't tell us; tell her!"

Groaning, Amalia got up and trudged off to go find Star.

Exactly twelve seconds later, she was back. "I can't do this!"

Ishtar frowned. "Why not?"

"I'm bad at talking to people! She's just going to get even more mad at me if I go and try to apologize!" She plopped herself back down on the ground. "I'm useless…."

"Well, at least now you know how Star feels," quipped Ishtar.

Amalia ignored her, groaning, "What do I do?"

Amalia's youngest sister shrugged. "Just go up and be nice to her. She can't stay mad at you for that!"

"What do you mean, 'Just go up and be nice to her'? What am I supposed to—"

"Well, while you guys figure that out," Ishtar started, "I've got us a way out of here."

"But it's not like I can just—wait, what?"

Ishtar pulled out a corked bottle filled with a swirling milky gas. "I got this when that dragon used her breath weapon on us earlier. Thought it might be useful."

"But… why were you carrying around an empty bottle?" Illya wondered.

"It's good to be prepared."

As astonished as Amalia was that Ishtar had accomplished such a feat, she didn't exactly see the use in it. "But what can we do with that?"

Ishtar mapped out in a low voice, "So, at the end of the day, they'll have to send a dragon down to check the mythril and take it to wherever they're storing it, right? So we spray it with some of this"—she shook the bottle—"and that dragon is our ticket out."

"Wow… that's an awesome plan!" Amalia exclaimed.

Ishtar smirked. "Glad you took me along now, huh?"

Amalia smiled back. "Definitely."

From somewhere far away, they heard Ragok shout, "The inspector is here! Time for inspection!"

Ishtar's eyes widened. "Already?! Amalia, you've gotta go find Star, we'll incapacitate the dragon. C'mon, Illya!"

"Wait!" Amalia protested.

"We'll be fine," Ishtar assured her. Then they both ran off toward where they had heard Ragok's voice.

Of course she was worried about her siblings, but what she was really worried about was whether _she'd_ be fine.

 _You and Star have been friends for a while now_ , she assured herself as she plodded through the endless corridors, paths, nooks, and crannies in the rock. _She'll understand that you just screwed up. She'll forgive you._

But what if she didn't?

Amalia determined that she was going to get Star to come with her, no matter what it took. They could deal with being upset with each other as soon as Star was safe, but she had to get Star out of here.

She finally found Star sitting glumly against a rocky wall, swinging her star-shaped purse back and forth like a pendulum. Amalia wasn't sure if Star had noticed her until she said quietly, "Hey Amalia."

"Oh, h-hey." Amalia sat down next to her. Illya's words rang in her head: _Just be nice to her_. "Look, Star, I'm… I'm sorry for saying… what I said to you. Everyone makes mistakes, and you didn't deserve that. It didn't seem that important at the time, so I get it."

Star just sat there.

Amalia took a deep breath. "I… I hate feeling useless, you know. Like no matter what you do, you'll always make things worse. People have seen me do some pretty cool things, but… now I'm forced to live up to that. Just because I did something once, everyone thinks I can save the world or something. But the truth is, sometimes I am just, well, useless, and I let everybody down."

"You're not useless, Amalia."

Amalia smiled. "Thanks. And neither are you."

Star smiled back. "Hug?"

"Yeah." They stood up and shared a hug, but as soon as they pulled away, Amalia remembered, "We've gotta go! Ishtar found a way to break us out!" She grabbed Star's wrist and pulled her along, all the way until they found Ishtar and Illya, who were mounting a little blue dragon which Amalia was fairly sure had no chance of fitting them all.

"It's not going to fit us!"

"Do you trust me?" Ishtar shouted.

"I did until you said we were all gonna fit on that thing!"

"He _will_ fit us!" Istar maintained. "Might be a bit tight!"

Without breaking her sprint, Amalia vaulted onto the dragon like she had done thousands of times before—just with wyverns. She reached down and took Star's hand to help her up. Star plopped down in front of Amalia, pushing Amalia back so far that she had to hold onto Star tightly so that she wouldn't slide back onto the dragon's tail.

Up in the front, Ishtar spoke to the dragon: "Hey, boy! Do you wanna fly us back to the atrium? Do ya?"

"Wait!" Illya protested. "We can't leave the rest of them behind!"

But the dragon let out a snort and started beating his wings. He took off at a sprint toward the mine shaft and leaped of the edge… and they plummeted straight down.

"Up!" shouted Ishtar hysterically. "Up! Up! UP!"

With an enormous effort, the dragon leveled out despite all the weight he was carrying. He began running along the mine tracks, taking off and gliding across short gaps and impasses.

Finally, they dramatically tumbled into the lobby with the giant black dragon, whose eyes widened when she saw them. " **How—what are you doing? How did you get out**?"

They swooped toward her, spiraling just out of the larger dragon's reach. They were now behind the desk, which they saw contained several shelves. One of them held Star's wand, Amalia's sword, and Illya's hair tie.

"Star! We'll have to jump!" shouted Amalia.

Somehow, Star was already jumping off their dragon by the time she had said it. She pushed off the little dragon and fell, tucking into a roll as she landed on the shelf beside Star. They watched as their little dragon, with his load lessened, was now able to deftly weave in and out to evade the black dragon's swipes and puffs of mesmerizing fog.

Amalia rushed forward and grasped her sword, tossing Star's wand over her shoulder…

Straight off the edge of the shelf, a good nine feet out of Star's grasp.

"Amalia! That was terrible aim! I needed that!"

"Sorry! Just a sec." She held out her sword, concentrating. After she felt the connection to Star's rapidly falling wand, she jerked her sword up, flicking the wand back up into the air like it was at the end of a yo-yo string. This time, Star caught it.

"Back in business," said Star triumphantly. She zapped something with her wand, then turned back to Amalia and walked off the ledge. Amalia leapt off after her, landing on her back on a cloud of incredibly soft pink fluff.

"Cloudy, let's go!" shouted Star, moving toward the front to steer their mount. Just like their little dragon, they wove in and out of the bigger dragon's attacks. The new target seemed to be a bit too much for the black dragon to handle, as she was now swatting tactlessly in every direction, and her mesmerizing breath weapon was coming out in short, ineffective bursts.

Star and Amalia watched as Amalia's sisters dove for the exit, only to be blocked by the black dragon's enormous body. " **You are not getting out!** " she fumed. " **Xycorus! What are you doing? Xycorus! I order you to turn over these girls!** "

But the mesmerized dragon didn't hear his master and kept swooping around her retaliations.

An idea began to form in Amalia's mind, taking form piece by piece until it all came together. "Yes… that should work! Star, move over!"

"Ooh, I see what's going on," Star responded, handing over the driver's spot. "You've got a plan, huh?"

"Yep."

Amalia directed Cloudy toward her sisters riding on Xycorus and shouted at them, "Distract her when I say _now_. Then we'll be out of here!"

"My hair tie!" Illya managed to shout in reply before they zipped past each other.

"Ugh. Sometimes I don't understand her, but she usually comes through," Amalia muttered, although she was still unsure whether the hair tie was part of the plan, or if Illya simply didn't want to leave without it. Nevertheless, she leapt back onto the shelf as they passed it to retrieve Illya's hair tie. "Keep moving!" she shouted to Star, taking off into the depths of the shelf.

Finding a little hair tie in the shadow the shelf above threw over the whole area was not much easier than finding a needle in a haystack. After a few seconds of poking around in the darkness, she remembered that she had her sword back. "Oh, right! _Luminous Sword Glow!_ " Her sword began to glow with a vibrant blue light which fought away the shadows. After a bit more searching, she found the hair tie illuminated on the ground before her. She picked it up and ran hastily back toward the distant rectangle of light, which grew as she neared it until she reached the edge of the shelf.

She saw Cloudy and Star approaching, but she knew that they wouldn't be able to stop. Even though the black dragon was tiring, she was still muttering curses Amalia had never heard before and putting up a valiant fight.

"Amalia, jump!" Star shouted at her.

She had to trust that Star would catch her, just like Ishtar had. So she jumped.

And as she fell, she saw Cloudy whoosh right by her, missing her completely.

So this was how she would meet her end. Not during an epic wyvern fight, not while defending her kingdom from the greatest foe it had ever seen; no, she would die from falling out of a giant office desk.

Then Cloudy swooped past again, and this time she felt the fluffy cloud catch her.

"Sorry Amalia! That was close!" Star apologized.

"Did I ever tell you that one of my worst fears in falling to my death? Now it's almost happened twice in one day!"

"Huh, fear of heights? Kinda a weird fear for a wyvern-rider to have."

"I'm not afraid of _heights_ , I'm afraid of _falling_. And when I'm on Ratha, or on Deglaciei even, it's different. I trust them. I know I won't fall."

"Well, we won't let you fall either," Star said resolutely. "I'm magical, after all. And apparently your sister is too. Did you know about that?"

"Well, she's never used my sword before—well, not that I know of, anyway—but it makes sense that she would be able to. Although, all the glowing and gold eyes and stuff was kinda weird. I've never seen _that_ happen before."

"Here comes Illya!" Star said, snapping Amalia back to reality.

"Oh, right."

Illya was approaching on Xycorus's back, her arm outstretched.

"This had better be important," Amalia grumbled as she tossed the tie to her.

Illya caught it. "Trust me."

Amalia supposed she would have to. It was time to put her plan into action. "Star," she said softly, praying that this didn't go horribly wrong. "Stop Cloudy, and don't move."

"Wait, what?!"

"I know what I'm doing, Star." At least, she hoped that she did.

"All right, but if we end up dragon food, it's your fault," Star conceded, pulling Cloudy to a halt.

After a few seconds, the black dragon seemed to realize that they were sitting ducks. She whirled around to face them, reared back, and released a gigantic plume of her breath weapon, straight at them. "Do I move now?" Star said nervously.

But Amalia didn't have time to respond to her. She shouted "NOW!" at the top of her lungs. Then, " _Giant-Fan Blower Charm!_ "

An enormous desktop fan popped into existence at the very moment that Illya slingshotted her hair tie and hit the black dragon dead-center in the right eye. She recoiled, leaving her susceptible to the plume of mesmerizing fog now drifting toward her, blown by Amalia's conjured fan.

"It worked!" Amalia exclaimed.

"Can I move now?" Star asked, looking thoroughly shell-shocked.

"Yeah, go up to the big dragon," she directed.

Star complied. As they stopped just in front of the dazed dragon's face, Amalia shouted, "You will move aside and let us pass peacefully." With only a slight hesitation, she added, "Then, you will release _all_ of the creatures being kept in the mythril mines and help them escape."

" **Why… yes, I think I shall.** " The black dragon lumbered off in a daze toward the mine cart tracks, out of sight.

"Let's get out while we can!" shouted Amalia. They took off for the exit, flying down through the atrium, back through the lobby—to the receptionist's bewilderment—and out into open air.

They landed a safe distance away from the tower and dismounted.

"Wow, your dragon knows some moves!" Star said, addressing Ishtar and Illya.

Xycorus bowed his head. " **Thank you.** "

Ishtar jumped back, surprised that he had spoken. "Wait… you're aware? Does that mean you've been helping us willingly the whole time?"

Xycorus shrugged. " **That was only a very small dose of mesmer gas you gave me. It convinced me to let you mount me and to take off, but I came to somewhere during the time we were plummeting down the mine shaft. It was a good excuse to get away from my mom, though, which I'm thankful for.** "

"That was your MOM?!" Star exclaimed incredulously. "Does that mean you can breathe mesmerizing gas too?"

" **No, I'm just a common pyrodragon. But you can imagine it's… well, interesting living with her. Most dragons are off on their own by my age, but she's a bit… ah, clingy. And, her being a mesmodragon, it was pretty difficult to defy her until you broke me out. Using her own mesmer gas against her was brilliant, by the way. I'll have to remember that trick next time I see her. But for now it's time to start my adult life. With the deepest gratitude, this is where I leave you.** "

He took off and flew away into the distance, while the four girls shouted farewells.

"Well, time to go then," Amalia concluded after a long silence.

"Wait a sec," Ishtar interrupted. "I just realized something…"

"What?"

"Well, we never actually paid off the overage bill."

All four girls groaned loudly.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I am _not_ going back in there," declared Star.

There were murmurs of agreement.

"All right, let's just get home," Amalia decided, cutting open a portal to Dalmasca Castle. "I'd rather face the wrath of my mother than go back in there, and that's saying something."

* * *

 _Diaz Residence, Echo Creek, Earth_

Star and Amalia had just returned, exhausted, through a portal into the Diazes' living room when Marco, Gabranth, and Sally all tumbled through their own portal. Marco was agitated, looking as if he bore bad news.

"Okay… what is it?" Amalia questioned tentatively.

Marco took a long breath before saying dramatically, "Skylar's gone."

"We searched the whole Realm and couldn't find her anywhere!" Gabranth added. "We even sought out King Thunder and Queen Reyna, but they were panicking and said they had no idea where she was."

"She could be in danger!" said Sally.

Amalia stared at them for a moment, her mind going into overload. But then she realized, "Oh yeah, Skylar's just a few weeks younger than I am—I bet she's just hiding out while she goes through Dragovolution."

Marco gaped at her for a moment before saying in exasperation, "So you're saying we _didn't_ need to search the entire Realm for her?"

Amalia thought of all that she, Star, and her sisters had gone through that day.

"I mean, it could have been worse."

* * *

 **A/N: So there's my more dragon-esque take on Pixtopia. I know we're focusing a lot on Amalia's world—which doesn't seem to be doing very well at the moment—rather than Star's, but we all know what Pixtopia looks like, so I figured I'd introduce them to a new world! Speaking of new worlds, for those of you who do know what Silvian is, I'm not claiming to know the language (sadly, I'm not fairykind like Kendra), so for Deglaciei's name I simply used a portmanteau of Spanish** _ **de**_ **, "of" and Latin** _ **glaciei**_ **, "ice." On the other hand, "sihlkas," the Draclan currency, is 100% just a made-up word, as are Xycorus and all other unfamiliar names. I also casually sat Marco out of this one, since I thought it would be a good idea to see how well Amalia and Star get along without Marco as the middleman. (Yes, it would have been cool to include the Marco-Sally-Gabranth side-plot, but I'm already nearing 10,000 words as it is.) And I also decided to include Amalia's sisters, since they need screen time too!**

 **This story is long enough as it is, so with the deepest gratitude, this is where I leave you. ;)**

 **M &BFDIB out! See you in the Sleep Spells chapter, then after that in a two-chapter Blood Moon Ball special! **


	17. Chapter 16: Abandoned Beast

**Hey Everyone! It's Keyblade again! Here to bring you all another chapter of Star and Amalia Vs the Forces of Darkness! Now I hope you all enjoyed reading the Anniversary chapter which in a sense was Amalia's Birthday chapter. Now this chapter will basically be similar to the episode Lobster Claw, where Ludo fired his monster… Lobster Claw. Only in this chapter; Ba'Gamnan is going to fire… not going to spoil it, You'll just have to read and find out. so let's get going!**

 **Chapter 16: Abandoned Beast**

" **Ruby Tidal Wave Surge!** " " **Honey Bee Tornado Swarm!"** Amalia and Star shouted as large tidal wave of red gemstones combined with a twister of angry bees, swept away a couple of Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's minions away.

Meanwhile Marco uses his karate skills to defeat a couple of Ludo's other monsters, until he's caught off-guard and grabbed by two of Ba'Gamnan's grunts. But a strong wind gust blasts them away, while gently lowering Marco back onto his feet.

"Are you okay, Marco?" Sylph said as she appeared on Marco's shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks for the save Sylph." Marco said thankfully which made Sylph very happy at being praised as she hung on tight while Marco got back to the fight.

" **Gel Magic: Hungry Salamander Army!** " Sally said as group of gel salamanders emerged and began swallowing a few of the Ludo and Ba'Gamnan's guys. The ones that managed to avoid the spell, charged at Sally. The green bangaa wielding spears came at her from the front, but Sally jumps over the first one while also kicking him away in the back of the head. As the second one came swinging his spear at her, she ducks under the attack and ran up and pressed open hand on his chest as her hand glowed purple before he was blasted away and crashed into a couple the captured monsters. "That was a nice try; but if you're going to just swing your weapon around at someone like that it's not very effective. But thank you for being the test subject of my new spell." Sally said as she ran off.

As Star and Amalia were standing back to back of each other and firing off spell, they didn't see Beard Deer man sneak up behind them until he grabbed them both from causing them both to drop their wand and sword.

"Hey! Let go!" "Get your stinking hands off of us you bearded jerk!" they shouted as they struggled to get free.

"Star! Amalia!" Marco shouted when he saw the two princesses get caught.

"Marco behind you!" Sylph said urgently.

"Huh?" Marco said as he was quickly pinned down Bearicorn and Man Arm, while Sylph was caught and held by Emmitt.

"Oh snap dragons!" Sally said when she saw her friends were in trouble. "Hang on guys! **Gel Creation Mag – "** but before Sally could finish casting, she was suddenly pinned down herself by Ba'Gamnan's Tigrex. "Oh snap, where did you come from!?"

"Yes! Yes! We've got them all pinned down!" Ludo said excitedly. "Now Lobster Claws grab the wand!"

"Oh yeah! I got this!" Lobster Claws says as she ran to the wand.

"That sword is mine now," Ba'Gamnan said. "Narga go and bring it to me!" he said as he ordered as his Nargacuga quickly followed after Lobster Claws who had already picked up Star's wand.

"Hey Ludo I got the wand!" Lobster Claws said as he waved it around in his claw, which seemed to distract the Nargacuga as it thought the wand looked like some kind of toy. This caused it to make a b-line and charge right into Lobster Claws, making him lose the wand as it conveniently flew right into Star's open hand.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Ludo yelled.

"WHAT IN DRACLORD ARE YOU DOING YOU BLASTED CREATURE!?" Ba'Gamnan shouted as his Nargacuga was gnawing on Lobster Claws's… claw as he was begging for help.

As Beard Deer was distracted; Amalia threw her head back, hitting him in the face and forcing him to let go of her and Star.

"Ratha!" Amalia called to the sky.

Soon a furious roar was heard as everyone looked up and saw the familiar Rathalos dive bombing down towards them. As Ratha neared the ground, he evened out and flew and bulldozed his way through both armies while also performing an air tail whip on the Tigrex, freeing Marco, Sylph, and Sally before flying over to Star and Amalia. As Amalia grabbed her sword, two then quickly jumped and grabbed onto Ratha's tail as he flew back up.

"Ready Star?" Amalia asked.

"You know I am Mali!" Star said.

When they high enough, Ratha swung his tail up, tossing Star and Amalia up. They both then held up the wand and sword which were both glowing with white and pink light coming off of the wand, while the sword had red and blue lights arcing around it.

" **Blazing Frost Meteorite!"** Amalia shouts as she dives downward with a spiral cone of fire and ice around her while several smaller meteorites that were either covered in blazing heat or frigid frost followed beside her.

" **Cupcake Blast/Dagger Heart Blast!"** Star shouted as her wand fired a stream of both cupcakes and heart-shaped daggers simultaneously and followed down after Amalia.

As Star's spells got closer to the meteorites from Amalia's spell, they started to blend together with some of the cupcakes and dagger hearts either getting a more jagged and sharper appearance from the ice or increase in acceleration and power from the flames.

"Uh Sally?" Marco said as he ran over the glasses-wearing girl with Sylph on his shoulder.

"On it," she said as she summoned her grimoire. " **Gel Creation Magic: Salamander's Cave.** "

Soon a large mass of green gel formed around the three in a protective dome.

"Oh, now when did you learn this?" Sylph asked curiously.

"Oh a while ago that day when Amalia, Star, and Marco left to go get new chargers for their wand and sword." Sally said.

As Amalia drew closer to the ground, Ludo and Ba'Gamnan just looked up and sighed.

"This is most likely going to hurt like… I can't think of anything at the moment." Ludo said as he pressed a button on his staff and an umbrella popped out of the top.

"Why can't one good thing…. One good scum-bucket thing, go right for me!?" Ba'Gamnan shouted and was soon drowned out as Amalia, followed by the meteorites and Star's spells crashed into both his and Ludo's armies.

After the dust settled, a lot of both armies were either groaning in pain from being hit with searing heated rock and cupcakes or just knocked out cold by heart-shaped ice daggers with Ludo on the ground with part of his monster helmet broken and Ba'Gamnan pulling himself out of his own self-made ditch.

"Thanks for the work you two," Amalia said as she dismissed her sword and squatted down in front of Ludo and Ba'Gamnan.

"Yeah! It was really fun." Star said as she jumped off of Ratha's back and joined Amalia. "But we gotta go to school now." She said as she puffed up her backpack.

"Speaking of which; Amalia where's your backpack?" Sylph said from on top of Marco, who had his backpack on.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I know I had it before the – "

"Here," Bwagi; Ba'Gamnan's brother said as he limped over and handed Amalia's blue and green backpack to her.

"Oh thanks." Amalia said as he slung her backpack on. "Okay I'm set; let's go guys. Sally, we'll see you after school."

"Okay; I'll be at the park doing some field research." Sally said as she hoped over the fence while Star, Marco, Sylph and Amalia went off the school and Ratha flew off back into the sky. Leaving the beaten monster leaders and their grunts.

"That – " Ludo began to say before Ba'Gamnan cut him off.

"Shut it, just open the blasted portal." he growled out.

"Fine. Buff Frog," Ludo called as the frog monster came over to the two while Ludo pulled out his dimensional scissors. "Throw me up."

Buff Frog then light tossed Ludo upward where the little bird monster tore open a large portal for both groups and the two bigger monsters.

"Alright morons, get in." "The rest of you swamp rats in too." Both leaders said as the two armies walked/limped into the portal groaning and carrying the ones that were still knocked out.

When Lobster Claw was about to enter the portal next, Ludo stopped when he noticed one of his claws were missing.

"What happened to your claw?" Ludo asked him.

"Huh? My claw?" Lobster Claw said before noticing his missing claw. "Oh, I think it's – " He stopped when he saw his detached claw was in the Nargacuga's mouth as it came over still gnawing on it playfully. "Oh, right here."

"And how long will it take for you to grow back a new one?" Ludo asked.

"Umm, I think it'll grow back around the time I need to molt my shell again. which is around uhh… one to two years."

"Are kidding me!?" Ludo shouted. "Just… get in." he said as Lobster Claw walked into the portal and he turned to Ba'Gamnan and glared at the head hunter.

"And just what is that pathetic glare for runt?"

"How about the fact that your stupid over-grown Narga-whatever it is messed this whole thing up!" Ludo shouted. "Lobster Claw had the wand in his… claw, it was almost mine. Until your thing stupid pet thing attacked him and made him drop it!"

As the bangaa head hunter was about to retort back, he stopped and thought for a second. Initially; when he and Rinok had gone to wrangle the three monsters from the Draclord Badlands he was the one who had caught the Tigrex and Gravios, while the Nargacuga was picked up by…

"Rinok!" he shouted into the portal as his sister stuck her head out. "When you and I went to go find these beasts, you were the one who dragged the Nargacuga back with you. How old is it?"

"Well brother, you said you wanted strong and tough monsters to combat those princesses. So I stumbled across this one here," as said Nargacuga started licking Ludo's face.

"So you brought me back a youngling!? A blasted greenhorn of a monster!?" Ba'Gamnan yelled in frustration. "Just… get back in there."

Rinok then quickly pulled her head back into the portal.

As Ludo and Ba'Gamnan were about to enter themselves they noticed the Nargacuga was following behind them.

"Whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going, hmm?" Ludo said as he stopped the monster with his staff.

The second generation wyvern looked quizzically at the two before pointing with its tail at the open portal.

"You think I'm letting you come back? After that stunt you just did!?" Ba'Gamnan shouted. "What I need is a beast that can follow an order when I give it. Not an un-trained pup who gets distracted by something shiny!" he shouted as he turned and stormed off into the portal as the Nargacuga looked at Ludo confused.

"Oh for the love of! Just how stupid are you!?" Ludo shouted. "You got fired! So you're not coming back with us!" he said snatched Lobster Claw's claw out the wyvern's mouth and jumped through the portal as it closed.

Once it was all by itself, the Nargacuga seem to finally realize that it had been abandoned by its owners. Heartbroken; the land wyvern just laid down and whimpered quietly.

* * *

Later on in the day, Star, Marco, Sylph and Amalia came home from school.

"Earth history is so cool, I mean that Ben Franklin guy blowing up that kite with his lighting powers? Like whoa," Star said amazed.

"That's not what the teacher said at all." Sylph said as she flew out of Marco's hood. "It wasn't even close to it."

"Yeah Star, that's not what happened." Marco said.

"Well hey, at least she got the lighting part, that's something right?" Amalia said. "I'm more impressed with the fact that this Franklin guy was brave enough to fly a kite during a lighting storm, now that is bravery if you ask me."

"Too bad no one did," Sylph said grinning.

"Shut it, wind fly."

"Who do you think your calling – "

"Hey guys," Star said getting the three's attention.

They all looked out the window and saw the Nargacuga from this morning laying down in the backyard.

Star pulls out her wand and quickly goes outside with Marco right behind her. But Amalia and Sylph continue to look at the black wyvern or more specifically it's eyes.

"I'm guessing you can see the look in its eyes as well right?" Sylph asked as landed on Amalia's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm just surprised that Ba'Gamnan just left it here on its own like this. It's just one of the reasons he pisses me off." Amalia said as balled her hand into a fist before relaxing. "Well we better get out there before Star hurts it."

"Strange how you didn't mention the possibility of Marco hurting it." Sylph said.

"Well Marco's more… level-headed than Star is; plus, I think he would catch on that it doesn't want to fight right now." Amalia said as she made her way outside where she found the sight of Star standing on top of the Nargacuga's back with her wand pointed at it with a confused face as to why it's not getting up or even trying to shake her off and Marco kneeling in front of the it curiously.

When the two saw Amalia and Sylph walk over, Star slide down off the black furred wyvern and walked up with Marco to them.

"Hey Amalia, there's something up with Ba'Gamnan's… umm… what kind of wyvern is that again?" Star asked.

"It's a Nargacuga Star; a young Nargacuga I would like to add." Amalia said and watched as Star and Marco's eye's widened in surprise.

"Wait young?" Marco said. "But Amalia that thing is as big as Ratha."

"Marco's right," Star added. "Ratha and that Nargacuga are about the same size."

"You both do remember that Queen Okita cast a spell that decreases the size of that Rathalos to better accommodate to this dimension right?" Sylph said to which Marco and Star nodded their heads. "And during your time in Draclord you saw how big he actually was correct?" again they nodded yes.

"So guys, if that Nargacuga is the same size that Ratha is right now here on earth due to my mom's spell, how big do you think it would be if we brought both it and Ratha to Draclord right now?" Amalia asked them.

Star and Marco thought about Amalia's question, they both knew how big Ratha really was when he was back on Draclord. He was so big there, that they could walk from his head to his tail. So that would mean that if they brought Ba'Gamnan's wyvern back there, that would mean it would…

"Uh oh," Star said as she came to answer. She looked and saw that Marco had come to the same conclusion as her. "Amalia? Does that mean we've been hurting a baby wyvern?"

"Well technically from what I can see; this one here is around maybe…. 3 years old?" Amalia said.

"That's even worse!" Marco said worried. "We've basically been bullying a toddler! A TODDLER! THAT'S CLOSE TO A BABY!"

"But I don't want to be known as someone who bullied a baby! I love babies! Especially the ones that are going to hatch from our eggs!" Star said as she started to worry about being good enough to take care of her un-born baby dragon.

"Okay, okay you two, calm down for a sec." Amalia said. "Look; baby wyverns and elder dragons on Draclord are different. Some hatch from the egg and are already wanting to fight and explore the world around them, while others are born without their parents so they have to learn on their own. The Nargacuga is one those species of wyvern that have to learn on their own when they hatch, with or without their parents."

"But then how come this one followed Ba'Gamnan around?" Marco asked.

"I'm going to guess and say he picked this one up from the Badlands of Draclord." Sylph said.

"The Badlands?" Star asked confused.

"Yep, regularly Nargacugas are mostly found in places like forests of deep jungles on Draclord. But while it's possible to find them out in the badlands; they will mostly us caves as their dens, making it hard to find them since they tend to stay hidden." Sylph explained.

"That or some people who like to go out there and hunt them for kicks and get something off them to show." Amalia said with slight hint of anger in her voice. "But that's neither here or there; I guess this little one here followed lizard face because he gave him food and a place to sleep. But the fact that it wasn't that scared when Ba'Gamnan was yelling at it, tells me that he didn't grab this one himself. He must have had one of his goons or his siblings get it."

"Okay," Marco said. "But what about the other two wyverns he has? I kind of noticed how much bigger they were compared to this Nargacuga; does that mean they're adults?"

"Exactly Marco, good eye." Amalia said.

"Of course; did you really expect anything less from him?" Sylph said as she flew over and sat on his shoulder as Amalia sighed.

"Anyway, now we have to think of what to do with this little fella." She said.

"Well why can't we just keep him here?" Star asked. "I bet Ratha would love to have someone to play with while we're at school, right?"

"I don't think that would work Star." Marco said.

"Why not?"

"Well for one;" Marco started before looking to Amalia, "Since whenever Ba'Gamnan brought it with him to fight us, it's mainly stuck to the ground. Which tells me much like the Tigrex and Gravios, it can't fly, right?"

"Yeah," Amalia said, "just like those two, Nargacuga can't fly."

"Okay?" Star said. "So what if it can't… oh right. Ratha mainly flies around, so most people wouldn't get scared. But since this Nargacuga can't fly,"

"People will think giant monsters are attacking just like in that movie called um… Marco what was that movie called again?" Amalia asked.

"You mean Godzilla?"

"Yeah, that one, Godzilla."

"But there has to be something we can do for him?" Star said looking back at the black furred wyvern that hasn't move at all. "I really do feel bad knowing that I've been hurting a baby all this time."

Amalia had to think for a second on what to do here. Star was right, they couldn't just leave the young wyvern here moping in the backyard.

"I'm baaaaaack!"

The three teens looked and saw Sally hoping back over the fence.

"Okay, so my field research was a bit of a bust since there was some kind of event going on and… oh." Sally said when she saw the Nargacuga sitting in there in front of her.

"Wait Sally before you pull out your – " Marco started to say before Amalia covered his mouth.

"Relax Diaz, just watch." She said.

The three then watch as Sally examined the Nargacuga closely before walking passed them into the house. When she came back out, she was carrying a large bowl of full of steaks, ribs, blood sausages, and many other kinds of meat.

"Whaaaaat is she doing with all that meat?" Star asked confused on what was happening right now.

Sally then placed the large bowl in front of the wyvern and watched as it looked down at all the meat that was placed in front of it. It looked at Sally before looking at Sally, then looked back at the food. Then without warning, it started tearing into the all the meat like crazy. When the feeding frenzy was over, the young wyvern stood up and wagged its tail happily as Sally rubbed its head.

"There you go, little one." she said as Star and Marco were speechless.

"And the Wyvern Whisperer has yet again left two more people awestruck." Sylph said jokingly.

* * *

Afterwards, the five along with the young Nargacuga were walking down the sidewalk as Star told them what she wanted to do.

"You want to do what Star?" Marco asked not sure if he could believe what he heard his friend say.

"I said Marco, that I want to train this little guys here to be a good monster." Star said. "You make it sound like I'm saying something crazy."

"Well not really crazy Star, just a bit out of character, I guess?" Marco said.

"And just how is this out character for me?"

Marco, Amalia, Sally, and Sylph looked at each before speaking.

"You told me one time that monsters were evil by nature." Amalia said.

"I meant the one's on Mewni when I was talking about that. The only bad monster from Draclord we've met is Mr. Lizard face head hunter." Star said.

"You said that one of your favorite things to do in the morning back on Mewni was fight monsters before breakfast." Marco said.

"Oh you guys can't tell me you don't like the feeling of coming back home from kicking an evil monster's butt as the sun is coming up to say hello?" Star said. "Anyway; I never said that baby monsters were evil, just the grown-up ones. Which is why if I can train this little guy here to… wait where did he go?" she asked when she noticed that the young wyvern had picked someone up off the ground while they were riding their bike.

"That's not good." Sally said as Star ran over and told the young Nargacuga to put the person down, which it did… by letting go and letting them drop. Lucky She used her want to catch them and apologized as she leads it back to the others.

"Star, I really like the fact that you want to try and… reform this young one here," Sylph said. "But how exactly do you plan on doing that? It's been with that floppy-eared head hunter for who knows how long."

"Easy; I've trained Warnicrons, Amalia's raised Ratha who is also a wyvern, Sally maybe knows a lot about Nargacugas, and Marco is our first-aid guy." Star listed off.

"Oooh, that's why you asked me to get every kind medical item from the house." Marco said as Amalia rolled her eyes.

"Okay so what's lesson one of Star's training a baby wyvern?" Sally asked.

"Oh well first lesson is um…"

Star and the others soon the heard the sound of something crying coming from down the street. They walked down until they saw a little girl in a purple dress standing next to a tree crying.

"Hey there, what's wrong?" Star asked the little girl.

"My kitty's stuck in a tree." She said.

They looked up and saw a fluffy white cat dangling from a tree branch above them.

"Hold on I'll get him down for you." Amalia said as she made way to start climbing.

"Wait Amalia!" Star said. "I've got a better idea." She said as she called the Nargacuga over.

"Uh Star? You sure it's a good idea to let it do this?" Marco asked.

"Sure I'm sure." Star said. "Okay little guy you just have to get that little kitty down from the tree, okay?" She said instructed to the young wyvern.

It seemed to understand as it moved closer to the tree and stood up on its large front legs until it's head was underneath the dangling kitty, who let go of the branch and landed on the young wyvern's head as lowered its head back down.

"Oh thank you so much!" the little girl said happily.

"See that?" Star said confidently. "First lesson cleared. He got that little girl's kitten out of the tree."

"And now he's trying to eat it." Sylph said.

"Wait what?"

The group turned and saw the terrified look on the little girl's face as her kitten's tail hung out of the wyvern's closed mouth as the pet hissed in panic.

After getting the cat out the Nargacuga's mouth… then having to get the little girl out of its mouth **(Yes, he tried to eat the girl too, just like Lobster Claw did in the episode.)** , the group and wyvern continued down the street.

"First lesson: F for trying to eat the cat and girl." Sylph said.

"Who made you the teacher, you little mosquito?" Amalia said to which Sylph stuck her tongue out at her in response.

"Okay, minor set, I'll admit that." Star said as she rode on the young wyvern. "Okay I probably should has told you this first, but you can eat little kids… or their pets if you want to be good." She said as the Nargacuga looked up at her.

As they began to enter the town, the group saw a bus stuck in the road with a two flat tires.

"Whoa, what happened here?" Sally said.

"Looks like that bus got two flat tires and now it's stuck." Marco said.

A smile soon appeared on Star's face as the idea began to form in her head. This was not missed by Sylph who quietly sighed to herself.

'Why do I have a feeling that this will not end well at all?' she thought.

* * *

Later on as the afternoon sky rolled around, Star, Marco, Amalia, Sylph, Sally, and the Nargacuga who was looking in from the window where in front of the T.V. as the news was going.

"Tragedy struck today as a rampaging black wyvern destroyed several city blocks. Thankfully no one was injured, but one person morns the loss of his new bike." The news reporter said as Marco turned off the T.V.

"I knew that was not going to end well." Sylph said as she sat on top of Marco's head. "But I wasn't counting on it to get that bad, that poor person lost a bike."

"Ha-ha." Star said groaning before seeing the crestfallen look in the young Nargacuga's eyes. "Hey, hey, come on. So what if you made a mess of a couple of city blocks, they can fix up no problem. I still think you can be a good little wyvern just like Ratha, you just need some… safety gear to start you off with first. Come on Marco help me look for some!" Star said as she grabbed Marco and dragged him up stairs, causing Sylph to fly off.

"Okay, I've had enough of this." Sylph said as she flew over to the open window the young Nargacuga was looking through. "Listen youngling; no offense but you and I both know that you adapting to like on this planet will not work, right?" she said.

"Sylph I doubt it can understand you at – " Amalia said but stopped when she saw the young wyvern nod its head. "Okay, so it can understand you." She said as she and Sally got up from the coach and moved to the window. "So if you don't want to be here, do you maybe want to go back to the Badlands?"

It shook its head no.

"Do you maybe want to go to a different area of Draclord to live?" Sally asked to which it shook its head no again.

Sylph sighed before saying the obvious answer.

"You want to go back and be part of Ba'Gamnan's crew again don't you?" to this, it nodded its head excitedly while also waging its tail.

"But why would it want to go back to him? He's a jerk and he's not the nicest guy in Draclord or anywhere else." Amalia said wondering why this young one would want to go back to such a creep like Ba'Gamnan.

"Maybe it's not Ba'Gamnan himself it wants to go back to, but someone within his group that it misses." Sally said thinking. "Come to think of it; whenever he brought this Nargacuga, the one who usually handles it is his sister."

"You mean Rinok?" Amalia said thinking of the female bangaa. "Actually' I have noticed that she is usually the one who sticks close to this young one here. Is it Rinok you want to go back to?" She asked to which it nodded its head. Amalia sighed. "Okay."

"Really? Just like that?" Sylph said.

"Yes, just like that. I'm going to become Queen of Draclord one day soon; and I plan on treating all things with fairness. Including help those return to where they feel most at home." Amalia said. "Even if it's with a scumbag head hunter."

Sylph just looked at the daughter of queen she trusted second to the former royal family of Dianaria, more specifically the queen and princess.

"Fine then." Sylph said. "But Ba'Gamnan won't take this little one back unless it proves itself by getting your… oh no. you are not thinking of – " Sylph started to say before seeing the smile on Amalia's face.

"Well if lizard face wants my sword," Amalia said as she summoned said weapon to her hand, "why not let him come and take it?"

Outside, Amalia slept in a lawn chair with her sword in her hands, while Sally slept on the ground, leaned up on the side of the chair, and with Sylph on top of her head also asleep.

Soon the familiar sound of space being torn open was heard as a portal appeared with Ba'Gamnan emerging from it. He immediately spotted Amalia asleep with the sword loosely held in her hands with Sally and Sylph asleep as well. He quickly looked around, but saw no sign of Star, Marco, or the princess's Rathalos.

"This is perfect." He said wickedly.

"What's perf- mph!" Ludo said before the head hunter covered his mouth to shut him up.

"Shut your cursed mouth!" he said quietly before showing Ludo the sleeping trio. "If I can get a hold of the sword while she sleeps, then we can use those three as leverage to get your little wand, got that?"

Ludo nodded his head in understanding as Ba'Gamnan dropped him to the ground. As the two snuck over the three 'sleeping' girls, both of the armies soon began emerge from the portal as well. This included Lobster Claw who now had his arm reattached. **(I'm going to let you all guess how he got it back on.)**

They crept closer and closer, until they we're right next to Amalia. And just as Ba'Gamnan was about to grab the sword, the tip of the blade was suddenly right in his face courteous of a fully awake Amalia who had a grin on her face.

"Hey Lizard face," Amalia said. "I was just thinking about you right now."

"When have you ever thought about this walking reptile?" "She meant in a kicking his tail kind of way Sylph."

Ba'Gamnan and Ludo looked and saw that Sally and Sylph were also awake.

"Now normally I would call Star and Marco out here to join in kicking both yours and Ludo's butts," Amalia said as she jumped out of the lawn chair while Sally back-flipped next to her and Sylph floated next to Amalia's head, "But I'm feeling a bit more daring right now and I have Sally and Sylph here so… how about we see how long all of can last against the three of us, huh?" she said as her sword began to glow.

* * *

Back in the house, Star and Marco were making their way back downstairs carrying giant blue… cat booties?

"Star? Tell me again, why you just so happen to have a pair of giant cat booties in your closet?" Marco asked.

"Huh. I don't really know, but it's a good thing I do have them." Star said. "Now we can… huh?"

"What's up?"

"Um… where are Amalia and the others?"

Marco looked and saw that Star was right, there was no one in the living room. He then looked to the window and saw that the Nargacuga was also gone.

"Uh Star? We're also missing – " Marco was soon cut-off as two bangaas and one of Ludo's monsters came crashing through the door.

The two dropped the giant cat booties and ran to the door way where they saw Amalia, Sally, and Sylph fighting both Ba'Gamnan and Ludo's groups.

"They came back!?" Marco said as he saw Star run out towards Amalia and the others while blasting some away anyone from the opposing side who tried to attack her. "Hey wait for me!" he said as he ran after her.

As Amalia blasted away another pair of attackers, Bearicorn and Beared Deer tried attacking her from behind. But they got knocked away by Star's Narwhal Blast which Amalia noticed as she saw the blonde coming running up to her.

"Oh hey Star, you made it." Amalia said.

"Uh yeah? You want you tell me why these guys came back?" Star asked as she kicked a green skinned bangaas in the head before blasting him with her wand.

"That may have to do with the fact that I lured them here."

"Why?"

"To see if I can maybe get Ba'Gamnan to take the youngling back with him?"

When Star heard that her eyes widen in shock.

"What!? Why would you even try that? When you know I'm trying to teach him to be good?"

"Look Star,"

"Amalia!" Sylph shouted as she blew back a group of Ludo's monsters with a wind blast. "Get over here! It's time!"

"Right," Amalia said as she looked back at Star with an apologetic look before running off after Sylph.

The two then found Sally fending off Ba'Gamnan and Ludo along with a good portion of their armies. When Sally saw the two coming she jumped back just Ba'Gamnan brought down his saw-blade where she was a moment ago.

"There you two are!" Sally said.

"Did you make sure he knows when to jump out?" Amalia asked.

"I made triple sure he knows." Sally said. "But what's with the slight sense of sadness I'm getting from you?"

"Star… isn't too cool with what we're doing."

"Oh. Well… just explain it to her afterwards, okay?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Just what are you little runts whispering about?" Ba'Gamnan shouted.

"Nothing that's any of your business, long ears." Amalia said as she pointed her sword at him. "But if you're really interested, let's see how **Fast** you can move over here to find out."

"Why cocky smart-mouthed – " As Ba'Gamnan was about to charge at Amalia, he was stopped when what looked to be a black blur with two red lines trailing behind it began darting around all of them.

"What!? what is that!?" Ludo said in a panic.

"I can't see it; It's moving too fast." Lobster Claws said as he tried to follow the blur only to get dizzy.

The black blur then lunged at Amalia, Sally, and Sylph who quickly jumped out of the way of the impact which kicked up a dust cloud. When the dust settled; it revealed the young Nargacuga with its tail spikes out and bearing its fangs at the three.

"Hey, isn't that the same monster that gnawed my claw off?" Lobster Claw asked.

"What!?" Ludo and Ba'Gamnan said.

The Nargacuga then launched the spikes from its tail at Amalia and the others who dodged them, but quickly had to move again as the young wyvern immediately came at them with a swing of its tail.

"Hey," Ludo said. "Are you sure that the same monster you left here? Cause look at it go right now," he said with most of his monsters agreeing with him.

"Hmm; the pup does seem to have grown up a bit," Ba'Gamnan admitted, which didn't go un-noticed by Rinok, "but If it can get the sword then…hmm."

What Ba'Gamnan didn't expect, was that the young wyvern managed to hear him while it was chasing down Amalia and the others. Since it concluded that if it could get a hold of the thing Amalia had in her hand, it could go back home. So it attacked Amalia with one of its bladed wings which she dodged, but it quickly aimed and swung its tail hitting Amalia's hand and sending her sword in to the air. However; it also un-intentionally fired a spike from its tail which also managed to hit Star's hand and send her wand into the air too.

"My sword!" "My wand!" they both cried out.

"The wand! Someone grab it quick!" Ludo shouted.

Lobster Claws quickly scuttled and jumped up at the same time that the Nargacuga jumped. He managed to catch the wand while the young wyvern caught the sword using its tail.

"Yes!" "At last!" Ludo and Ba'Gamnan cheered.

Amalia's sword and Star's wand soon began to change as Lobster and the Nargacuga held them.

The wand changed to purple with a black eyeball-shaped crest and thorny wings, while Amalia's sword transformed with a longer double-edged black blade, purple handle and the guard was in the shape of a black bat with glowing red eyes.

Lobster Claws eyes soon turned black with dark purple pupils, while the young Nargacuga was soon covered in a black and purple mist and eyes glowed a vivid red as it let out a massive roar.

"That's not good!" Sylph said. "They've been taken over by the power of the wand and sword! They can't control it!"

"Why did it do that!?" Amalia said as Sally helped her up. "That wasn't the plan we went over with it."

"Wait, plan?"

Amalia, Sally, and Sylph saw Star and Marco run over to them.

"What plan are you guys talking about?" Marco asked.

"Umm well…" Sally said not sure what to do here. "Uh Amalia, maybe it would be better to just tell them."

"(Sigh)… alright." Amalia said. "Star, Marco; the plan was to get Ba'Gamnan to take the Nargacuga back… so it could be with his sister Rinok."

"Wait, his sister?" Star said confused.

"Why his sister?" Marco asked.

"Turns out Rinok was the one who mainly took care of the youngling, while her brothers tended to the Tigrex and Graivos. And it seemed that was the reason why it was initially sad; because it thought since Ba'Gamnan didn't want it anymore," Sylph said.

"That his sister didn't want it either?" Star said to which Sylph nodded yes. Star then looked to Amalia who had that same sorry look on her face as before. "Amalia, why didn't you just tell me all that?"

"Because I thought you wouldn't agree with it; you just looked so happy wanting to help that little guy, I didn't think you'd want to help him get back to someone who was making him happy regardless of the company they keep." Amalia said. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Star."

"I think I'm the one who should be sorry;" Star said. "Sorry I made it seem like you couldn't tell me all this."

"Uh guys?" Marco said. "Not to interrupt your apologizing; but what are going to do now!? Lobster Claws and the Nargacuga have your wand and sword!"

"Not for long!" Sylph said as she began gathering wind into her hands. "I'd suggest you all get back."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!?" Amalia shouted. "Are you trying to tear us all to piece with that spell!?"

"Relax! I'm only using about ¼ the power of it. Now unless you want to get blown back to Draclord, get back!"

Amalia groaned before getting everyone to run back.

When Sylph saw they we're out of the way and the wind she had gather had formed into a small green sphere, she then sent it towards the Lobster Claws and the Nargacuga.

" **Release Mana**. **"** Sylph said before snapping her fingers causing the small sphere of wind to explode into a gigantic dome of hurricane class winds tossing around everything until it dissipated leaving the backyard torn up and both armies hanging from trees or on the ground knocked out.

A safe distance away from where the devastation had just taken place Star and Marco had their mouths hung open in complete shock, Amalia shook her head while mumbling "Still looked like over kill", and Sally looked like she wanted to know when Sylph came up with that spell.

"Did she just…. With all that… that was so…" Star said too stunned to make a coherent sentence.

"Yeah," Amalia said as she closed both Star and Marco's mouths, "That's one of Sylph's "Blow everything away" spell. She told once told me one time she taught it to someone at one point and they nailed it easily."

"Wow really!?" Marco asked.

"Well that's what she said; but when I asked who the person was, she said she'd tell me if I can master one of her wind spells."

"So… have you?"

"Heck no! I'm not going to work myself to the bone just the know the name of someone who somehow was able to learn a spell from her."

"Are Sylph's spells that hard to learn?" Star asked.

"Unless your contracted with her like Marco here is; then yes, their super hard to learn let alone master." Amalia groaned. "Anyway forget that right now, what I want to know is where are our – "

As Amalia was about to ask; her sword came down and stuck itself into the ground, while Sylph floated over with Star's wand in a mini swirl of wind next to her.

"I'm sorry, you were saying something?" Sylph said with a cocky smirk on her face as the Draclord princess narrowed her eyes at her.

"You are so annoying." Amalia moaned walking passed the wind spirit and grabbing her sword. Once she did, it changed back to when she first got it. "But, thanks for getting me my sword back." She said as she placed it on her back.

"Yeah! And my wand too. Your spell was so cool! Do you think you could maybe… you could teach me one of them?" Star asked. "I don't mean like a crazy hard one, but maybe one I could practice with?"

Sylph gave Star a good look and saw the pleading in her eyes.

"I'll think about." Sylph said as Star started jumping cheerfully. "Now take your wand back already before I drop it."

"Oh right! Thank you!" Star said as she took her wand and like Amalia's sword changed back to her style.

Meanwhile, Ludo and Ba'Gamnan had managed to pick themselves up after getting tossed around so much by that spell.

"Blast it all!" the head hunter yelled.

"Complain later!" Ludo said as he cut open a portal with his scissors. "Retreat!"

"You lot too, fall back!" Ba'Gamnan shouted as his and Ludo's goons ran into the portal while carrying those who were knocked out. When Lobster Claw was about to enter, Ludo stopped him.

"You! You had the wand in the palm of your claw! What… what did it feel like?" Ludo asked.

"Uh, kind of tingly… I guess." Lobster Claws said.

"I knew it!" Ludo said excitedly. "I'm so jealous! Can I touch your claw?" Lobster Claws then stuck his claw out for Ludo to touch, which he did with glee. "Nice! After you good sir" as Lobster Claws walked into the portal, Ludo looked and saw Rinok helping the young Nargacuga over to the portal. He then looked and saw Ba'Gamnan watching the whole thing. "Well I'd call this whole thing maybe ¼ a win in my opinion."

"What?" Ba'Gamnan said.

"I mean that young monster you wanted to get rid of not only got tougher, it managed to get a hold of that sword you wanted. Plus; some of my men have noticed your sister over there wasn't as um… nasty as she usually is since you left it here." Ludo said before walking into the portal himself.

Ba'Gamnan looked as his sister came up to him along with the young wyvern.

"Well? What in the realms of Draclord are you two standing there for? Get in there." Ba'Gamnan said Rinok was a bit surprised, but none the less made her way into the portal. As the Nargacuga was about to enter, Ba'Gamnan stopped it. "Relax you, just wanted to say something is all. All of that, that I saw you do just now? I'll be expecting to see that and more, got it?"

The young wyvern licked the head hunter's snot face before happily entering the portal along with him as it closed.

Star, Marco, Amalia, Sally, and Sylph just silently watch what just happened.

"Did that… just happen?" Amalia asked. "Did we really just see lizard face be nice?"

"Hmm," Sally said as she began looking for something in her lab coat.

"Uh Sally?" Star said. "What are you looking for?"

"Oh, just something…. Ah! Here it is!" Sally said as she pulled out a vile of yellow and purple liquid.

"Sally? What on Draclord is that?" Amalia asked.

"Something for us to try to make sure we did just dream up what we saw, that all." Sally said. "Now who wants to – "

"Pass!" Amalia said running into the house.

"Same!" Star said following after her friend.

"No thanks!" "Not happening!" Marco and Sylph said as they ran after Amalia and Star.

Sally just looked confused as they all ran off.

"I don't get what they were so scared about this for," she said as she opened the vile and drank some of the liquid. Her face then scrunched up briefly before relaxing. "Yep; my super grape and lemon drink confirms it, that was defiantly real what we just saw." Sally said as she walked into the Diaz home.

* * *

 **A/N: Happy ending for everybody... in a weird sort of way I guess. With this chapter done, we getting even closer to the much awaited Blood Moon Ball chapter! I hope your all ready for that. Later! ;)**


	18. Chapter 17: Psychology vs Intuition

**A/N: Dang, I think Keyblade has it out for me. ;) The shortest episodes in all four seasons of** _ **Star vs.**_ **are "Brittney's Party," "Pixtopia," and "Sleep Spells," all tied at 9 minutes, 30 seconds, which happen to be the last three of my chapters in a row, which equates to a big lack of episode content to go from. Yay original content! Although I guess I can't complain since my last chapter was 10000+ words. (Oops!)**

 **Before I start, Blood Moon Ball is going to be pretty big: We've been planning it since chapter 5! So, this is how it's going to go. It will be broken into two chapters, with chapter 18 (Part 1) being written by Keyblade, which will be posted alongside this chapter. Part 1 will end where the episode ends. Chapter 19 (Part 2) will be in the next two-chapter post and will be written by me. It won't be based on any** _ **Star vs.**_ **episode and will be 100% Draclord Drama! (Huh, maybe I should name the chapter that.) Everything we've been building will come to a head in chapters 18 and 19 (including all your favorite Draclan side-characters!) so you won't want to miss it.**

 **Now for reviews!**

 **Guest - Aha! You got it! Nice to know there's at least one other book nerd out there. ;)**

 **All other reviews - this section of uploads took a while since Keyblade wanted to really perfect the BMB chapter. Same might apply for the next upload, since I'll be writing part 2.**

 **Now, let's do this before the A/N gets longer than the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Psychology vs. Intuition**

* * *

"Um… Marco? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Amalia had to ask as the two of them stared at what used to be the living room.

Now, it was a wild jungle, complete with bendy trees, a sticky humidity, buzzing insects, and even a small creek down the middle.

"Either that or we're both still dreaming. Or maybe I'm just dreaming and you're not even real!"

"I doubt that," Sylph remarked from Marco's shoulder.

Amalia jumped, having forgotten that the tiny wind spirit was there. "Yeah, dreams are weird… but not _this_ weird. I recognize Star's magic here, but why would she want to do this? And more importantly, _when_ could she have possibly done it? It definitely wasn't there before we went to bed, and I swear Star's been asleep all night!"

Sally joined them on the stairs, yawning. "Well, looks like Star left us a surprise." She poked her foot into the waterlogged, gooey ground that now coated the living room, but she instantly retracted it. "Ew," she muttered dazedly. "But I'm hungry…." She took out her grimoire—which she always carried with her—and murmured, " _Gel Creation Magic: Giant Salamander Ride_." This made a giant purple salamander appear before her, which she stumbled to and mounted. As Sally rode off into the depths of the living-room-turned-jungle, she turned back and waved to Amalia and Marco. "I'll see you two when you make it across," she told them casually, as if riding a salamander through a jungle to get to the kitchen was an everyday occurrence.

Amalia wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but, before she could ponder it further, the Diaz parents joined them, followed closely by Judge Magister Gabranth.

Amalia simply raised a hand and gave them a smile, while Marco greeted, "Good morning!"

"As you can see," Amalia pointed out, "We have a bit of a problem."

"Why, yes, it seems we do," agreed Gabranth. The Diaz parents just looked puzzled.

"Well… Amalia, you have magic, right? Can't you just zap it away?" Marco suggested.

"I don't think so," Amalia countered. "This seems like a _really_ complicated spell, and I don't exactly know what spell it is, which makes it hard to undo it. Plus, Draclan magic doesn't work well against Mewman magic."

"I'd agree. This doesn't seem like Draclan magic to me. Much more… exotic," Sylph interjected.

"So you're saying we need to go wake up Star?" sighed Marco.

"Yep."

"Unless you can conjure a giant salamander like Sally," Amalia confirmed.

Marco groaned. "I'll go get her." He plodded back upstairs to Star and Amalia's shared room, carrying Sylph with him. Star was still sleeping peacefully as Marco approached her bed awkwardly. "Um… Star? Star? STAR!" Marco frowned; Star wasn't waking up.

"Here, let me try," Sylph intervened. She conjured a blast of wind and sent straight at Star's face, but the princess just rolled over and continued snoring.

Maybe they needed to get more creative….

"Oh no, it's Ludo!" Marco shouted.

Star was on her feet before Marco could blink, her wand pointed directly at him. "Where is he?"

"Oh, he's not here. But now that you're awake, we have a slightly larger problem, and not just in height. We need to get through the living room." He gave her a pointed look.

Star didn't catch it. When Marco didn't elaborate, she said, "And that's a problem… how?"

Marco started to become irritated at Star's indirectness. "Oh, I don't know, turning the living room into a jungle kind of gets in the way!"

"Wait, the living room's a jungle?"

"Well… yeah, you were the one who did it, so…" Marco trailed off due to seeing Star's uncomprehending visage. "You have no recollection of turning the living room into a jungle, do you?"

Star shook her head. "None whatsoever."

"Hmm, maybe it wasn't Star, then. That magic isn't Draclan, but I couldn't quite place it," Sylph thought aloud. "It could be someone else's magic. Ooh, or even more exciting, maybe she got her memories wiped! Maybe the Bijous were behind it! I never trusted them, even when Amali and Opaline were still friends."

"Whoa, whoa, maybe Star just doesn't remember for some reason. Star, you should come down anyway. Maybe seeing it will help you remember."

But Star looked just as surprised as the rest of the household once she had descended the stairs. She frowned when she reached out and touched a tree. "Hmm… it definitely has traces of Mewman magic. Mine, if I didn't know better."

"But it _is_ yours!" argued Amalia. "Whose else would it be? And you have a pretty distinct magical trace; I'm sure it's your magic. Even Sylph agrees!"

"I still think she got her memory wiped," Sylph grumbled.

Ignoring the sprite, Star countered, "It might just seem distinct because all the other magic you've ever encountered has been Draclan."

"But who else could it be?"

"I still think—" Sylph started.

"Sylph, she didn't have her memory wiped," Marco interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

After a moment, Star decided, "I think I can reverse it. Let's see…."

The three teenagers and wind spirit ventured into the jungly wilderness, Star in the lead. As they navigated the spindly trees and thick underbrush, Marco couldn't help but notice that, even though she denied having any knowledge of creating the jungle, Star somehow seemed to know her way around it perfectly.

Marco looked around at the jungle in wonder, falling a bit behind the two girls. He was just about to try catching up to them when Sylph called, "Watch out!"

But before he could do anything, a giant creature leapt out at him, so fast he could only see a flash of blue and very sharp bared fangs. Just before it could take a bite out of him, Marco heard simultaneous shouts of " _Rainbow Fist Punch!_ " and " _Giant Carrot Explosion!_ " The creature was blasted far into the underbrush in front of them, trailed by a rainbow-colored fist and a gross of exploding carrots.

"Wow… thanks guys!" He discreetly pulled out a pad of paper with three columns on it, his pen hovering over the two on the left. "Hmm, now would that be a half a check mark each, or a full one? I don't even know what half a check mark would look like…. One each, I guess," he finally concluded, marking both columns. He sighed as he noticed how the two columns he had just marked were nearing the bottom, while the third column had only five marks.

"Hmm… what's that?" Sylph asked, peering over Marco's shoulder.

"Oh… nothing." He put the notepad away before either of the other girls noticed.

"So, can you make the jungle go away or not?" Amalia asked Star as they regrouped.

"Yeah, I think so. It looks like it was cast in layers, so I'll have to strip it away layer by layer."

Marco wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he pleaded, "Could you strip away the crazy-monsters layer first?"

"Well, I have to cast the counterspells in the reverse order that the spells were cast… but, I think the animals were created last! So, yes, I can remove the animals first." With a wave of her wand, a sloth in a tree above them disappeared, along with all the other animals, or so Marco presumed.

As Star twirled her wand, first the grass, then the vines, then the trees, then the soil disappeared, leaving just the river running down the middle of the room. As she moved to wipe it away, Marco leaned over toward Amalia and whispered, "How does she know the order the spells were cast in?"

Amalia shrugged. "The only way she'd know is if she cast them herself. Something weird is going on here…"

"Yeah, definitely."

"I still think—"

"She did _not_ get her mind wiped!" both Amalia and Marco shouted.

Sylph crossed her arms and fluttered a little farther away from Marco. "Fine, if you're so sure."

"What was that?" Star called over her shoulder as the river glimmered out of existence.

"Oh, hehe… nothing," Amalia replied quickly.

"Right," Marco interjected, trying to change the subject, "now let's see what Sally's up to in the kitchen!"

* * *

 **The rest of the day passed without incident. Amalia went to bed that night almost willing to believe that the jungle in the living room had simply been a strange coincidence. That is, until Amalia was awoken by the feeling of something sliding across her legs. She opened her eyes to see what it was, but she shrieked and jumped right out of her bed when she realized that it had been some sort of weird colorful worm-thing as long and thick as her arm. She turned toward Star's bed. "That's it, Star, this isn't funny anymore!"**

She stopped in her tracks when she realized that Star couldn't hear her: She was asleep.

Star's eyes were shut, and her snores penetrated even through the racket she was creating by casting spells all over the place.

Amalia had just enough time to think, _Spellcasting without incantations. Impressive,_ before she had to dive out of the path of one of Star's spells. The lamp it hit turned into a tortoise, which made Amalia all the more grateful to have dodged the spell. "Star!" she shouted, trying to awaken her friend, but her cry was drowned out by all the noise. How _was_ Star sleeping through all this, anyway? She resorted to Marco's tack, shouting in mock-horror, " _Oh no_ , it's Ludo and Ba'Gamnan!"

Star's eyes snapped open. "What? Where? _Gelatin Tornado_ —"

"No, no, they're not actually here; I was just trying to wake you up because you were doing this in your sleep!" Amalia gestured to the room at large.

"Oh," said Star dazedly. "I did all this?"

"Um, yeah. And the jungle—

Then Marco burst into the room. Sylph wasn't on his shoulder, so she was likely still asleep in Marco's room. "There was a _giant worm_ in my bed!" He looked around, realizing that the worm was actually the least of their worries.

"But… why would I be sleep-spelling?" Star posed.

Marco answered. "There's only one way to find out."

"What?"

"Psychology!"

* * *

"Psychology?" Star asked as she and Amalia sat outside Marco's bedroom waiting for him to "transform" (that's what he had said he was doing, anyway). "Is that like psychopathy?"

Amalia pondered that thought for a moment before answering, "Hmm, yeah I think they're about the same."

"Oh, cool. Umm… what's psychopathy?"

Marco burst out of the door bearing fake square glasses, a sweater vest, a notepad and pen, and a textbook titled **Psych 101**.

" _That's_ psychopathy," Amalia answered.

But Marco didn't hear her as he chanted, "Glasses! Paper! Clothes! Book! Dr. Marco, Ph.D!"

Amalia gasped. "You're a platypus-hoarding draconoid?"

Marco turned to her with a confused look. "No…?"

"Oh, that's what Ph.D stands for in Draclord. It's a serious crime to hoard platypuses. What does it stand for in English?"

"Umm…." Marco frowned—he didn't actually know. "That… doesn't matter. What matters is _getting to the bottom of Star's sleep-spelling_ ," he said dramatically.

"Right, but how do we—"

"Test One: Role play!"

"Huh?" Star asked uncomprehendingly.

"You have to pretend to be someone close to you, and then—"

"Ooh, I know the perfect spell!" Amalia interrupted. Then she pointed her sword at Star and said, " _Marcus Duplicitus!_ "

When the smoke cleared away, Marco was staring at an exact copy of himself, except the person who used to be Star wore Marco's trademark red hoodie and skinny jeans.

"Oh wow! This is _so_ cool!" Star-Marco shouted. "Hey, I'm Marco, look at this cool hoodie and awesome skinny jeans! That's weird, your hair is so short!" Star-Marco looked down. "Oh, and what's this thing—"

"MOVING ON!" Marco interrupted.

"Test two: art therapy!"

"Ooh, art!" Amalia said excitedly, raising her sword.

"No, wait Amalia!"

But before Marco could stop her, she fired a spell, and an easel, canvas, paintbrush, and artist's palette appeared.

"Oh hey, that was… actually really helpful."

"I can be helpful too, you know," Amalia added.

"Yeah, I know, but that spell that turned Star into _me_ wasn't exactly—why do you have a spell to turn into me, anyway?"

"Oh, uh…" Amalia blushed a little and mumbled something about training.

"Right, art," Marco continued. "Star, I want you to paint a picture of your childhood."

"Oh… okay." She grabbed the brush and started painting. Amalia was watching what she was painting, while Marco stood on the other side of the easel. Star kept looking up at Marco and studying his face, which he thought was weird, but maybe she was using it as a template for someone else's face.

Amalia watched her excitedly. "Aw, that's _so cute_! Yeah, make the legs a bit longer… oh, and don't forget the mole!" She giggled as Star finished the painting, then turned it around.

"See, it's little Marco!" Star exclaimed.

Marco looked at the painting, finding a likeness of himself when he was around six years old, wearing the same red hoodie and blue jeans that he always wore. "Okay, I did _not_ wear that stuff when I was that age. They wouldn't even have my size! And besides, I told you to make a picture of your childhood!"

"Yeah, so I made a child in a hood. You!"

"That's not… ugh, moving on."

"Test three! Ink blot test! Tell me what you see." Marco held a white page of paper blotted with ink.

"Ooh, it's an ink blot! I win!" Amalia shouted smugly.

"No, it's not a competition! We're trying to get to the root of Star's sleepwalking. So _she_ has to answer, not you. Now, _Star_ , what does this look like?"

"A fat porcupine."

"Good, very good. Now, how about his one?"

"Ooh, that one looks like a wyvern!" Amalia interjected.

" _Amalia!_ "

"But it _does_ look like a wyvern," Star agreed.

"Okay, how about this—oh wait, never mind."

But both girls gasped and stared intently at the tiny spot in the middle of the page. Star immediately muttered "That reminds me of my overbearing mother suffocating me with all the duties of becoming a queen for the rest of my life!" while Amalia said "That reminds me of how small and insignificant I feel when I think about how my former friends left me because I wasn't good enough for them!"

Marco took a step back. "Whoa, whoa. Well, Amalia, it looks like _you_ have friend problems, _and_ confidence problems, but we already knew that."

Star looked between the two. "Am I missing some—"

"Star, on the other hand, it looks like you have mother problems."

"Yay, I have mother problems!"

"No, I think that's a bad thing," Amalia suggested.

"Yeah, it is," Marco confirmed.

"Aww, I have mother problems!"

"Well, identifying the problem is the first step to solving it."

"Cool. Now I'm tired, so I'm going to bed," Star concluded.

"Ditto," agreed Amalia.

"That means that there's _more_ steps…" Marco protested uselessly. "Fine, I'll go back to bed too." He yawned and climbed into bed.

Not fifteen minutes had passed before Marco and Amalia were awoken again. Strange magical creatures and objects flew in every direction, and—judging from the smell—the jungle was back in the living room. Marco and Amalia met in the hallway, where Star was sleep-spelling yet again.

"Not again!" Marco groaned.

"I thought you were the psychology expert!" Amalia complained.

"Yes, and I said identifying the issue was _one_ step toward recovery! But did anyone listen to me? No!"

But Amalia, apparently not listening, interrupted, "Whoa… who _is_ that?"

Marco looked over toward where she was pointing.

A large purplish creature with a little elephant trunk and giant hoop earrings was glaring at them, particularly at Star. "I want your face!" she shrieked.

"Umm, _excuse_ me?" replied Amalia.

"Not _your_ face! _Her_ face!" She shook her finger at Star wildly. Then she stopped, as if realizing something. "Wait… _you're_ a princess too!" She dove for Amalia, but the Princess of Bahamut leapt out of the way just in time.

Meanwhile, Marco was shaking Star. "Star! Wake up! There's this purple-elephant-woman-thing, and she says she wants your face, and—"

"I'm awake!" Star yawned, then took a battle stance. "Whoa, who's that?"

"Well, it looks like you weren't just sleepwalking—you were trying to defend yourself against… well, _her_!"

"Whoa, awesome!"

"I'm not ' _her_ ,' I'm Princess Smooshy! And I want your faces!" the elephant-woman shouted, cutting them off.

"What exactly do you mean you 'want our faces'?" Amalia asked.

"See, I'm on the run from St. O's. Everyone's looking for me."

"Well, you can't stay here with us!" Star protested.

"Oh, but you won't have to worry about that, since you two are going to St. O's as soon as I can steal your faces! We're really not that much different, if you think about it. We're all princesses just trying to live our lives St.-O's-free. We have the same highs, the same lows; the same east, the same west. Really, the only difference is in the face! So, naturally, I'm going to have to laser-finger your faces off and use them for myself." She looked toward Star. "Don't worry, you'll get my face, with my life! Oh, and for the other one… well, maybe I'll find a spare face somewhere. See, it's a classic face-switch scenario."

The three teenagers burst out in laughter.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! And I have two little sisters!" Amalia remarked.

"It's not stupid!" Princess Smooshy protested. She picked up the two girls, and, before Marco could blink, she was dragging them toward the stairs.

"Star! Amalia!" Marco shouted, chasing after them.

"Marco, please don't let her steal my face! I like it a lot better how it is right now!" Amalia shouted back.

"Yeah, I don't want to be stuck with an elephant trunk on my face for the rest of my life!" Star agreed.

Princess Smooshy hopped onto the stair railing and slid down. Reluctantly, Marco copied her. He raced past a huge statue of Star's head—which he could have sworn hadn't been there before. Then he saw Sally sitting in the kitchen with headphones on, eating Oreos and reading through her grimoire. Marco tried to shout out to her, but she remained oblivious to what was happening.

 _Guess I'm on my own, then,_ he thought, picking up speed and chasing Princess Smooshy across the jungle and out the window, where she was trying to haul her two captives up onto the roof. Marco followed her, trying not to panic as his feet dangled beneath him, then pulled himself up onto the roof.

"Marco, she's got my scissors!" Star shouted.

Sure enough, Princess Smooshy was cutting open a portal and was just about to step through. Marco had to do something. So he started with the first thing that came to mind: psychology. His Marco, Ph.D, clothes were back in his room, but he started anyway, "I have an A in psychology! I can help you."

"No thanks."

"You can't keep running away from your problems! Stealing people's faces is not the answer! Maybe if we do some tests, we can find the source of your problems. For example…" he pulled out a page with an ink blot that he had stowed in his pocket. "What does this look like to you?"

"It looks like me stealing their faces. So that's what I'm gonna do."

"No, wait!" Marco dived through the portal just as it closed behind Princess Smooshy.

On the other side, he found the purple elephant-woman lazer-ing Star's face off. Princess Smooshy looked up at him. "Ah, welcome to Smooshyland. Now that you're here, maybe I can give the other girl _your_ face. Of course, you won't have a face, but that's a minor problem, really. Now, just wait there until I'm done with her."

Princess Smooshy was holding Star with one arm and Amalia with the other, but she couldn't restrain all three of them. This was Marco's chance to finally save them. He aimed a punch at the purple princess's smooshy face, but her trunk coiled around Marco's arm, trapping it. He let out a little shout of surprise.

He'd blown it. They were all going to lose their faces.

But just as Star began to scream, Amalia wrenched her left arm free, flipped her sword from her right hand to her now-free left hand, and slashed Princess Smooshy's arm, leaving a bluish gash. Princess Smooshy howled in pain and dropped all three of them. Amalia opened a portal, and they all jumped through, back onto the Diaz house's roof.

"Wow, Amalia! You really saved our faces!" exclaimed Star.

"Yeah, she really did, didn't she?" Marco sighed and sat down on the edge of the roof. He took out his notepad and gave Amalia two marks.

"Hey, why do you look so sad?" Amalia asked him. She sat down next to him, and Star sat down on the other side.

"Yeah, what is that?" Star pointed to the notepad.

"Oh, it's just… this is how many times we've saved each other. Amalia just got two more. I… I really wanted to be the one to save you guys this time."

"But… why does that matter so much to you?"

"I don't know… I guess it's just that you're these awesome magical princesses, while I'm just… you know, _me_."

Amalia put her hand on Marco's shoulder. "Marco, listen to me. You don't have to help us escape from some face-stealing runaway princess to save us. You do that every day."

Star put her hand on Marco's other shoulder. "Yeah, there's no way Amalia and I could survive this Earth place without you. We'd be completely lost."

"And most importantly, you're the one who keeps us together. If it weren't for you taking us in like your family, we would never have met. And when you're not around… well, we tend to kind of fall apart, like when we went to Hahkasha and you went to Draclord to look for Skylar. I got into an argument with Star, and it almost prevented us from escaping!"

"And plus, your karate skills are pretty awesome. I doubt anyone on Mewni could do what you can! And I think your psychology might have helped a little too! See, it doesn't really matter who saves who. As long as we have each other's backs, I know we'll make it through anything that comes our way."

Marco grinned. "Thanks, guys. Really. That helps. A lot."

"Any time," Amalia said.

"Of course!" added Star.

Suddenly, a roof tile under Marco slipped. Marco just managed to keep himself up on the roof, but his notepad sailed into the backyard, where Ratha snatched it up in his mouth and began chomping happily.

"Yeah," Marco decided, "let's not keep track anymore."

* * *

 **A/N: So, there it is! Admittedly, this one was a bit lacking in originality, but hey, at least I got the entire household into a chapter for once! Anyway the upcoming Blood Moon Ball II is going to be good, and so is Blood Moon Ball I, so hit that next-chapter button and keep on reading!**

 **M &BFDIB out!**


	19. Chapter 18: Blood Moon Dance for Three?

**Hey you guys! Here we are at last at the long awaited and MOST anticipated chapter of Star and Amalia vs the Forces of Darkness! Yes; that's right, I'm talking about the fated Blood Moon Ball chapter people! You all have no idea how long I have been waiting to write up this chapter, I started a rough draft of this chapter just to plan out how I want it to go. Of course we'll be getting a few guest appearances from certain characters, Star will get to meet Skylar and Opaline officially, plus you'll all be treated to a super special twist in this chapter! So why are still reading this? Get yourselves reading this already!**

 **Chapter 18: Blood Moon Dance for Three?**

Just another fine day at Echo Creek High as the students were in the middle of classes, roaming the halls, talking with their friends or just hanging around and doing nothing. Like the school's local flunk Oscar Greason, who was sitting on his car in the parking lot playing his Keytar.

Suddenly though, the ground began to shake before splitting open as a geyser of flames shot out from the opening that appeared next to Oscar's car. Soon something could be seen coming up through the flames; as the flames died down and opening closed, it was soon revealed to be a carriage being drawn by a skeletal horse.

The door to the carriage soon opened as someone stepped out. The person was wearing a black jacket with black pants and shoes, black belt, a white collared button up shirt, black tie. However, what drew everyone's attention to this person was not only he way her appeared, but his appearance as well. He had spiky, salmon colored hair, pale lilac skin and two pale – orange white-tipped horns on the side of his head. On his face he wore a pair of… three-lens sunglasses.

"Wow! So this is what the schools here on earth look like?" said a girl who stuck her head of the of the carriage curiously at the building. She had sky blue hair and grayish blue eye. She was wearing a white hoodie that had rainbow sleeves over a yellow T-shirt that came up to her neck. She was also wearing blue shorts and black zipper boots that stopped at her calf. This girl was Skylar Atmósphera; Princess of Meterolia, Realm of the Bolt of Draclord. "It looks so different from the schools on Draclord, so this is where you said Star is attending, right Tom?" Skylar asked the person know as Tom.

"Why would your former girlfriend be sent to a place like… this?" came the question from another girl who was in the carriage as well. Her hair was an off- white and painstakingly cut with dark purple streaks with eyes of the same color. She was wearing a long purple and black dress with black long sock and white boots with purple laces. Finally, she wore a pair of red tear-drop shaped earrings and a gold necklace decorated with several colored gems. This girl here was Opaline Bijou; another Princess of Draclord from the Gemnia Realm, also known as the Realm of the Spear. She was currently looking upon the earth school with a board and uninterested look in her eyes. "Also, do you really believe that this plan you came up with will really help you get her to take you back? It seems a little…. Desperate if you ask me."

"Okay first off;" Tom said as he lowered the sunglasses, reveling his three red eye that had black eye liner under and around them, with the third being in the middle of his forehead, "Yes Sky, this where my precious Starship is. And to answer your questions Opa; one, her parents sent her here so she could get a better handling of her magic… without blowing stuff up. And two, the plan is not desperate. It's fool-proof and should guarantee that me and Star get back together."

"So… how exactly are you going to insure that you and her get back together again?" the girl called Skylar asked.

"Easy; I just have to show Star that I've changed for the better and she'll take me back again." Tom said confidently.

"So again, why go through with the other part of this plan?" Opaline asked still not seeing the real point.

"Well," Tom said as he pushed his sunglasses back up on his face, "there's nothing wrong with a little back up plan now and then right? You guys just stay here and wait for me. I'll go in, invite Star to the ball and be right back out. Okay?" he said as he made his way into the school with many of the girls eyeing him.

The Opaline just sighs as she leans back inside of the carriage and shook her head in exasperation.

"I don't get it." Skylar said. "Opaline, why does Tom want to get back together with his ex-girlfriend so badly?"

"Because one Skylar; boys have a hard time knowing when to let things go. And two; Tom believes that hey and Star can still make this "relationship" work."

"Even though the reason she dumped him was because of his own problems with is anger?" Skylar asked. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"That's because it only makes sense to Tom." Opaline said as she sighed again. "Honestly; he could have come up with so many other ways to get this girl back. But instead he goes with a classic "take the girl out to a dance" plan. I guess the silver lining in all this is that I get to premiere that new amethyst necklace I bought at Wall- Mart."

"You mean the one that you saw right after…" Skylar stopped before considering what she was going to say, "after we bumped into Mali and that boy she was with?"

Opaline just sighed as she looked away. "Yes, and I would really like it if you didn't bring it up please? I still can't believe that you would try to send a letter to that wyvern-lover behind my back."

"It… it's just that… I miss the days when we were all friends and hung-out together." Skylar said. "You, me, Amalia and Crescenta have known each other since we were little, everyone from our kingdoms called us The Four Little Dragon Princesses whenever we were together. We were even the youngest ones to join a guild, and – "

"Stop Skylar." Opaline said as she looked to her friend with annoyance. "Your starting to get on my nerves bringing up all this stuff that's not important. So drop it, right now."

"But," Skylar said before a look from Opaline quieted her instantly. "S-sorry, I won't bring it up anymore."

"Alright then, now let's talking about else while we… huh?" Opaline said as she looked out the carriage window, causing Skylar to look as well.

What they saw was Tom being pushed towards the carriage by whom they could assume was his ex-girlfriend Star Butterfly, due to the look of annoyance they could see on her face as she was pushing the demon teen.

"Now why am I not surprised?" Opaline said, expecting this result while Skylar had a nervous smile on her face as they could soon hear Tom's girlfriend talking as the two came closer.

"No, no, no and another triple no Tom." Star said as she pushed the demon teen towards his carriage. "You need to leave right now. Take your fire, your carriage and dead horse and go back to the Underworld."

"Wait… I'm dead?" the skeletal horse said, shocked at this obvious fact as Star began to walk back to the school.

Skylar chose that time to opened the carriage door to get out and crouch down next to Tom who was on the ground after tripping when Star pushed him towards his carriage.

"I take it she didn't go for it?" Skylar asked as Tom raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay, silly question. Maybe it was in the way you asked her?"

"Well… maybe." Tom said. "I basically brought out my special Lucitor charms and asked Star like that. But… maybe I should have just asked normally?"

"I'm… not sure if that would have changed anything." Skylar said. "You said that Star called you by accident once, but she quickly hung up on you. Don't you think that maybe that was a sign that she may not want to speak with you."

"Yeah. But come on Sky, it's been like months since we broke up. How long can she carry a grudge like that?" Tom asked.

"Tom? Star broke up with you when you blew up a cronshake place you brought her too and threated other people who said hi to her with never-ending nightmare curses." Skylar said in a flat tone.

"Okay, I see your point." Tom said as Opaline stepped out of the carriage and shook her head.

"As much as I want to say "I told you so" right now; I'll drop it and help you out with this." Opaline said as she snapped her fingers.

A purple portal quickly appeared on the ground with someone soon rising from it in a kneeling position. The person was wearing armor that had a skeleton-like quality due to the rib cage designed cuirass. The pauldrons of the armor were different from each other; as the right arm is red with a rounded pauldron, while the left is black with a jagged pauldron. The armor is relatively jagged yet smooth with a jet black color to it with red between the person's "ribs".

"You called for me, Milady?" the armored person said as he continued to kneel in front of Opaline.

"Yes Kayron," Opaline said as she pointed her finger to Star's retreating form, "the girl over there, could you please bring her over so that I can speak with her? Without harming her?"

"It will be done, milady." The knight called Kayron said as he quickly vanished into another purple portal.

"Okay, that's one problem out of the way." Star mumbled as she walked back to the school. "Ugh seriously? Uh Hey Star, I just came and rudely got in the way of your conversation with your friend to invite you to some Blood Moon blah, blah, blah. Ugh, still the same old Tom." She grumbled as she neared the entrance. But before she even made it through the threshold, she soon found herself scooped up into the arms of Opaline's knight, Kayron. "Huh? What? Who?"

"Apologizes for the sudden appearance, but my Lady wishes to speak with you." Kayron said as he began carrying Star back over to Tom and Opaline, too stunned to put up any kind of resistance. Once he stood before his charge and her friends, Kayron placed Star on the ground moved to stand next to Opaline.

"Well done Kayron," Opaline said.

"I only do as you ask, milady." Kayron said.

"I know, I know." Opaline said before looking at Star whom she could see was still a bit stunned before she tapped her on her shoulder which snapped her back to her senses. "Sorry if my knight shocked you with his appearance like that, but I wanted to have a little talk with you."

"Umm yeah, that's cool. But who are you?" Star asked.

"Right, of course. I should introduce myself; My name is Opaline Bijou, Princess of the Gemnia Realm in the Draclord Dimension." Opaline said proudly which resulted in Star's eyes widening from what she just heard.

"So wait; Tom, since when has the Underworld been doing trade with Draclord? And for how long?" Star asked.

"Oh, I think mine and Opa's kingdoms met about hmm… before we started dating. So that would mean, umm… about 2 – 4 years, right?" Tom asked looking to Opaline for conformation.

"Technically; it was around 2 – 3 years, but close enough." Opaline said. "But I'm a bit surprised that you know about that Star. While I would like to know where you heard about it from, that can wait for another time I guess. Now it's to my understanding that you and Tom here had a falling out due to his lack of anger control?" she asked.

"Lack of anger control? That's a nice way of saying that Tom here literally blew up at the tiniest thing whenever we went out someplace." Star said while sending a glare towards Tom, who was nervously adjusting his shirt collar. "One time at the Bounce Lounge while we were dancing, this other guy who was with his date accidently stepped on my foot while he dancing. He said he was sorry and while I said it was cool and no big deal, Tom lit the guy's pants on fire."

"Tom?" Opaline said looking to the demon.

"Oh come on Star, I mean the guy managed to put the fire out." Tom said.

"Because his date happened to be someone from the Water Folk Kingdom! Those guys are like the experts in water magic." Star shot back. "And let's not forget the time you set that Cornshake place on fire just because you got someone else's order."

"Okay, okay. I'll admit I did lose my cool over that a little," Tom said.

"What part of setting a place on fire did you miss!" Star shouted, before Opaline stepped in.

"Okay, okay you two, let's calm down for a second now." She said. "Now Star; I know Tom has done some very… stupid things due to his anger…"

"Hey!" Tom protested before Opaline put her hand up, telling him to shut up as she continued.

"But I'd like you to know that he's been working on controlling his anger. With some help from me too, of course." Opaline said. "Isn't that right Tom?"

"O-Oh Yeah Star!" Tom said, now seeing what Opaline was doing. "Opa here has been a really big help, as well as my life coach Brian. Who couldn't make it today since he had something to do. Also I've got a fluffy bunny with me, and I have been anger free… for 53 days straight." He says as he opens is jacket to revel as red button that reads "53 days' anger – free" on it.

"53 days?" Star said in complete surprise. She couldn't remember a time while they were dating that Tom when that long without turning into a fireball of anger. "That's… that's really something Tom."

"Yes, yes it truly is." Opaline said as she looked over and saw the happy, if not a little too giddy look on Tom's face. ' **Way to keep your over-excitement hidden, you hot head.** ' She thought jokingly. ' **Still; at least he got what his heart desired.** ' "Tom, how about you let see your bunny? You know, if your done spacing out, huh?"

"Huh, oh! Right good idea!" Tom said snapping back to reality. "Hey Sky, come on out and meet Star. Also could you bring my bunny out with you too?"

' **Huh?** ' Star thought when she heard Tom call out that names. ' **Did Tom just say? But the only other person I think goes by that name…** ' she thought before her thinking was stopped by the sound of another person's voice.

"Okay, just give me a moment." Sky said, opening the carriage door and stepped out, as she walked over while carrying a pink fluffy rabbit. "Here you go Tom; had to make sure this little guy didn't run off. He really wanted to come out of the carriage." She said as she handed the bunny to Tom.

"Ah, it's cool. I'd probably do the same thing if I were this guy too." Tom said. "So Star this little guy here is – Whoa!" Tom didn't get to finish what he was about to say due to Star blitzing passed him and Opaline. As the two looked and saw Star standing in front of Skylar with a very excited and happy look on her face.

"Uh Tom?" Opaline said. "What is she doing?"

"I have no idea." Tom said confused as to why Star seemed to be suddenly interested in Skylar.

Skylar herself was confused, if not also a bit curious as to why Star was suddenly in front of her.

"Umm hello?" Skylar said. "You must be Star, right?"

"Yes I'm Star!" Star said excitedly. "And I'm so happy that I finally get to meet you in person and not over a phone call." Star said as she vigorously shook Skylar's hand while also looking over what she was wearing. "Wow, I really like your outfit! And your hair almost looks like it came from the sky."

"Oh, well thanks." Skylar said happily as her hair began to glow like a sunny day outside. "I really like your headband and your boots, they really bring your look together."

"I could say the same thing about your hoodie," Star said. "I really like the rainbow sleeves, I wish I had a hoodie like that too."

' **Wow, she's just as energetic as she was when we were talking over the phone.** ' Skylar thought happily.

"Wow, didn't know you two already knew each other." Tom said

"Yes, that's rather… surprising." Opaline said as she looked to Skylar. "I'm curious though, how exactly did you both come to know each other? From what Star just said, you both met each other over a phone call, right?"

"Uh yeah," Skylar said. "See I was making a call to someone to order something to eat. But I accidently put in the wrong number and ended up talking with someone who said their name was Star. I never would have thought that the same person who I called by mistake was the one you told me and Opa about Tom."

"Well I didn't think you'd be meeting Star over calling the wrong number really." Tom said. "Anyway Star, this little guy here is Fluff Cloud." Tom said as he showed Star his bunny. "Do you want to pet him?"

"Aww, he's so cute." Star said happily as she looked at the bunny while Opaline whispered to Tom.

" _See what happens when you let me handle things_?" She whispered knowingly.

" _Alright, alright; I'll admit you saved my demon bacon by stepping in and talking to Star for me, so thanks._ " Tom said as he rolled his eyes but smiled all the same. " _So you think I should try asking her to the ball again now?_ "

" _Hmm; maybe after she's had her fill of petting your bunny first. Skylar already knowing Star could also work to her maybe backing you up into getting back to – "_

Before Opaline could finish; Marco suddenly appears and cut off Tom's hand with a powerful karate chop, surprising everyone.

"Tom!" "What in the heck!" Skylar and Opaline said in shock before they heard another voice. And this one was very familiar to them both.

"Get ready to get leveled into the ground you three eyed fire spawn!" Everyone looked up and saw Amalia in the air as her sword glowed purple. She then drew a circle in the air with the sword as a five-pointed star appeared in the center as she drew her sword back. " **Eat this! Colorless Void Crusher!** " Amalia then swings her sword as several blue, red and green flaming comets came flying out of the circle Amalia drew in the air and headed towards Tom.

"Wait what!? I lose a hand and now I'm about to crushed here!" Tom said in a fear induced panic.

Opaline just sighed as she summoned her spear to her hand while a multi-colored glyph appeared under her.

" **Moonstone Typhoon.** " Opaline said as she swung her spear upward creating a large swirling vortex that had shards of hecatolite within it. The flying comets were then swallowed into the twister and redirected into the sky where they soon disappeared from sight.

"Phew; thank you Opaline." Tom said as he fell on his behind in relief. "I thought I was toast there for a second."

"First off; was that supposed to be a pun since you can channel fire? And two; couldn't you just resurrect?" Opaline asked.

"Pun was not intentional and yes, but that is not the point!" Tom said as got up and dusted himself off, only to remember he has only one hand currently. "Right, missing a hand here."

"You're about to lose more than just hand!" Amalia said; landing and charging toward Tom with her sword pointed and aimed for his head.

"I've had just about enough of this!" Opaline said as she raised her spear to meet Amalia's sword.

But before the two's weapons could collide, they were both held in place by chains that looked to be made of ice. The girls looked and saw Skylar standing with her Lightning Bolt which was glowing blue and pointed at the two of them.

"Could the two of you maybe take it easy?" Skylar said in a friendly way to try and defuse the possible fight. "Hey there Amalia, it's… good to see you again."

"Oh," Amalia said uncertain about seeing her old friend again, "Hey… Skylar. It's… good to see you too. So umm… think you can un-chain me now, please?"

"Oh, yeah sure." Skylar said as she undid her spell, freeing Amalia and Opaline.

"Thanks." Amalia said before sending a glare towards Opaline who was glaring back at her. "Now can someone here tell me why this little gem hoarder is standing in front of me right now?"

"I was about to ask the same thing about you, lizard lover." Opaline said rudely. "Don't tell me you're also going to this… school?"

"So what if I am? It's got nothing to do with you where I go or whatever it is I do with my life." Amalia said as looked away from her former friend. "So are going to tell me why you brought Skylar and your some demon grunt with you? Not that I'm surprised or anything."

"First off; he not my grunt or anything of the sort! This is Prince Tom Lucitor of the Underworld, and also so happens to be Star's former boyfriend."

"What!?" Amalia said surprised.

"Wait, Tom?" Marco said looking to Star, "This is him Star?"

"Yeah." Star said sighing. "Marco and Amalia? This is… Tom." She said pointing to Tom as his severed hand re-attached to his arm.

"Nice to meet you Marco and… Princess Amalia?" Tom said unsure as he stuck his hand out.

"Just Amalia is fine." Amalia said as she dismissed her sword and shook Tom's reattached hand as did Marco. "So Star, what exactly brings your Ex up here to earth and with… one half of not so pleasant company?" she asked glaring at Opaline again.

"Uh… Tom wants to take me to the Blood Moon Ball." Star said unsure.

"The Blood Moon Ball?" Marco asked. "What's that?"

"Oh, the Blood Moon Ball is a special event that takes place in the Underworld once every 667 years." Skylar said. "There's food, decorations, dancing and at the end something really special happens!"

"That's right," Opaline said, "and Tom was inviting Star, until you two came in and started attacking!"

"Well excuse us gem brat! But if we hear word that our friend is dealing with a demon, the first thing we're doing is taking it down, hard!"

"I swear; you are 5 years old sometimes." Opaline said.

"Alright, alright. Can you two please calm down now so I can talk?" Tom said stepping in between the two Draclord princesses as they glared at each other before turning away. "I'm going to take that as a "yes". Star, I get if you don't want to come, I was a total jerk while we we're going out. But," Tom then went into his pocket and pulled out a tiny bell with a crescent moon on it, "if you change your mind, just ring this bell." He then handed Star the bell, but saw that she still looked uncertain. ' **Okay; this is going downhill fast. What can I do that will make Star more inclined to come? Think Tom, think.** ' He thought frantically. He then glanced over at Amalia who still not looking at Opaline while Skylar just looked on concerned. That's when the idea came to him. ' **Opaline is so going to hate this, but I'm willing to take the chance.** ' He thought as he was about to try his idea. "And you know; if Amalia is interested, she's more than welcome to join too."

"Huh?" Star said.

"What!?" Amalia and Opaline said in shock while Skylar and Marco were just as surprised as Tom continued.

"Well I mean, Amalia looks like she enjoys a good dance every now and then. So why not? I don't see why she can't come too." Tom said already seeing Opaline staring daggers at him.

"Hey yeah," Star said, "also I've never really seen you dance since Pony Head came to see us Amalia."

"And why exactly are you suddenly interested in seeing me dance again?" Amalia asked.

"Because you're a good dancer! Heck, you may even be a better dancer than Tom." Star said as she grabbed Amalia's hands. "Come on Amalia, please say you'll come? I bet you'll have a great time. Pleaseeeeesse?" she begged using the puppy dog eyes that Illya said would work on her during their time at Hahkasha.

' **Illya I swear! You just had to teach Star how to use those dang eyes to break me, didn't you!?** ' she mentally screamed as she knew she was not getting out of this. "Sigh; fine, fine Star. I'll go to the stupid Blood Moon Ball, just stop with the look already." Amalia said as Star began hopping up and down in joy.

"Yay! Thank you! This is going to be so much fun!" Star said happily while Amalia saw Marco struggling not to laugh at how quickly she caved.

' **So Amalia will be at the ball too,** ' Skylar thought smiling a little without anyone noticing. ' **Then maybe… maybe if I can get a chance to talk to her without Opa around, then…** '

Meanwhile Opaline pulled Tom to the side to ask what the heck was thinking.

" _Why in the five realms of Draclord did you do that!?_ " Opaline complained/whispered. _"I don't want her at this ball! Just the thought of her there makes me sick!_ "

" _Look I get the fact that you and her would rather fight each other to the death than be in the same area, but can you please just. But could you please just tolerate her for this one night? Just one night? That's all I'm asking._ " Tom asked.

Opaline sighed and began to think about for a second before she spoke.

" _Your only inviting her to make Star more at ease, right? I don't have to talk her, correct?_ "

" _Exactly; you don't have to talk or even go near her if you don't want to._ "

" _Sigh… fine. I guess I can tolerate her for just this one night. But I want something in return for doing this._ "

" _Is it a rare gem?_ " Tom said. _"Because I know for a fact that you have been looking for a specific gem that can only be found in the Underworld. Why?_ "

" _For a… collection I started a while back. I want to collect rare gems for each place in the multi-verse._ " Opaline said.

" _Okay. I'll ask my Uncle if he knows anything._ "

" _Alright then._ "

The two then came back over and joined everyone else.

"Alright; Guys let's go. We've still got a couple things to get done before tonight." Tom said as he began walking to the carriage, before he stopped and realized he forgot something as he walked back over to Star and pulled out a tiny hammer. "Whops hehe, almost forgot the little hammer." He said handing it to Star. "Okay now we go. Opa, Sky, let's go."

"Fine, fine." Opaline said as she made her way to the carriage. "I need to head home anyway and get ready for the ball after we get everything else. Come on Sky."

"Coming." Skylar said as she looked over at Amalia, who was looking back at her. "I… really hope to see at the ball, Amalia."

"Yeah, yeah sure." Amalia said as Skylar smiled slightly and turned to leave.

But as she was about to, a question popped into her head.

"Oh; also I'm a bit curious in asking this but… do you have someone to go to the ball with?"

"What now?" Amalia asked. "Why would I need to… are kidding me? I need a date for this thing?"

"Well… yeah." Skylar said a bit nervous now, thinking that she shouldn't have said anything. "B-But I'm sure you'll find someone to go with you before then; I'm sure you've made a lot of friends here on earth. Anyway see you both tonight." She said as she hopped into the carriage as it was engulfed in flames and went back into the opening in the ground.

* * *

 **(Diaz residence)**

It was now later in the afternoon. After school had ended for the day, Star and Amalia began to get ready for the Blood Moon Ball as soon as they got back home. Star was in her and Amalia's shared bedroom looking for a good dress to wear, while Amalia said Sally would help her get ready in Marco's room with the latter not minding as he was helping Star get ready.

"Okay Marco, which dress do you think I should wear?" Star asked. "My royal princess dress or this one here?" she asked holding out her royal blue princess dress and one Marco had never seen before.

"Hmm, the second dress I guess? Since it matches the hearts on your cheeks." Marco said.

"Wow, good choice Marco! I would've gone with this one too." Star said happy with Marco's choice.

"Hey Star, are you sure you're not maybe rushing this?" Marco asked. "You know with you and Amalia going to this Ball?"

"Maybe; but it could be fun Marco." Star said as she came out of her closet with the dress Marco said she should go with. "Plus, I want to see if maybe Amalia can try and makeup with her old friends again. You said that she had friend and confidence problems when you guys were helping me with my sleep-spelling, right? Don't you think that her making up with her friends could help with that?"

"Heh, I guess you're right Star." Marco said.

"Of course I'm right." Star said smiling as she went to push a button on her mirror. But before she pressed it, there was something on her mind she wanted to know first. "Hey Marco? Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure Star." Marco said.

"Why did... umm…" Star began to say getting that same feeling she had when she saw Marco and Amalia sleeping on the couch together again before continuing, "Why'd you say…. You'd be Amalia's date for the Blood Moon Ball tonight?"

"Huh?" Marco said before he understood what Star was talking about. "Oh… you mean what I said after Tom, Opaline and Skylar left." He said as he remembered that he said he's be Amalia's date.

* * *

 **(Flashback, earlier after Tom, Opaline and Skylar left)**

"So I need someone to go with me to this thing?" Amalia said as she shook her head. "Great, just stinking great."

"Come on Amalia, it can't be that hard to find someone to go with." Star said. "You could ask someone from school here."

"Star? I don't think anyone at our school would be brave enough… or even survive going to the underworld for a dance that is sure to have other demons." Marco said.

"Oh right, good point. Hmm… what about asking Gabranth?" Star suggested.

"That's a big fat no Star." Amalia said. "Showing up to a dance with my guard who is also my teacher? You want me to die of humiliation or something?"

"Okay, okay, so that's a no for Gabranth." Star said thinking of another idea before one came to her. But before she could say it out loud.

"Star no!" "That is not happening!" Marco and Amalia both said.

"What! You guys didn't even know what I was going to say!" Star protested.

"You were going to suggest Ratha, weren't you Star?" Marco said.

"… Okay, maybe you guys did know what I was going to say. Hehe."

"That's it, I'm doomed." Amalia said defeated. "Might as well wear a sign that say "Social outcast", because I have no one to go with to this ball."

"Well actually," Marco said getting the two girl's attention as he rubbed the back of his head "I think there may be someone you can go with."

"Really? You know someone Marco?" Amalia asked.

"See Amalia, you didn't have to worry. Marco knows someone who will go with you." Star said happily. "So who is it Marco? Have we met this person before?"

"Yeah, you have met this guy already." Marco said. "In fact, this guy has seen you guy go through the crazy things you do."

"Well that's a plus," Amalia said, "how is he with dealing with other worlds and dimensional creatures? This guy brave enough for that?"

"Yeah, he's plenty brave." Marco said. "Plus, he knows how to defend himself in case things go wrong."

"I'm starting to like this guy more and more." Amalia said smiling.

"Me too! Me too! Come on Marco, stop leaving us in suspense! What's the guy's name?" Star said getting excited.

"Yeah come Diaz," Amalia added in smiling, "quit the build up and tell us who it is."

"It's… well…" Marco said as he nervously looked away and tapped his finger on his chest. "this guy… right here."

"Huh?" Both Star and Amalia said until Marco clarified what he meant.

"I'm saying that… I'll be Amalia's… date… for the ball."

* * *

 **(Flashback end)**

"Well Star, I didn't want Amalia to feel… like she was on her own." Marco said. "I'm just saying this so don't take it as fact, okay? But depending on how often you're going to be with Tom, Amalia would have been by herself and we don't if she'll even want to talk with her old friends again while she's there."

"Yeah," Star said beginning to see where Marco was going with this, "she hardly did talk with Skylar. And when it comes to Opaline, it kind of looked similar to how me and Tom use to argue when we dated." She said. "But Marco I wasn't going to let Amalia be all by herself while at the ball, she's my friend."

"I know that Star, but Amalia's my friend too. And I want her to have a good time and makeup with her friends just as much as you do. So that's why I said I'd be her date for the ball, I want to make sure she'll be okay." Marco said smiling which in turn caused Star smile too.

"Marco, you really are too sweet sometimes." Star said causing Marco to laugh nervously as she pressed the button on her mirror, turning into a three-part screen. "Now turn away so I can change, please?"

"I could just step outside; you know?" Marco suggested.

"It's fine Marco, you don't need to do all that. Plus, I trust you and know you won't try and sneak a peek."

"Are you insinuating that my Marco is some kind of deviant?" a voice said from about them. Star and Marco looked up and saw Sylph hovering in the air. "Because if you are I consider that as slander against him. Especially with how well dressed he is right now." She said as floated down to get a better look at Marco's choice of clothing for the ball.

Marco was wearing a black tuxedo with gold shoulder pad and black swayed shoes, a white collared shirt and red tie. On his head he wore a red sombrero that had gold lining in different designs.

"Now tell me how someone who dresses like this could be seen as a peeper?" Sylph asked Star.

"I never said Marco was a peeper!" Star said. "I said I know he wouldn't peep! _Plus, he really does look handsome in his outfit._ " She said quietly to herself.

"Star? Can you and Sylph please drop the subject of me peeping and get ready, please?" Marco sighed as he turned his head and blocked his view with his sombrero.

Meanwhile in Marco's room, Sally was helping Amalia with the final touches on getting ready for the ball.

"I can't believe I'm really doing this." Amalia said as she sat on Marco's desk chair while Sally did her hair. "How exactly did I get into this again?"

"Because you fell victim to the power of the sad puppy dog face from your friend who learned it from your baby sister." Sally snickered as she braided Amalia's hair.

"I was speaking metaphorically, geez. Anyway are you almost done with my hair Sally?"

"Hold one just a couple more twists… and there, your all set. Now let's see what you look like in the mirror." Sally said excitedly as she ushered Amalia over to the mirror in Marco's room so she could look at herself in it.

Amalia wore a bright, light blue, sleeveless dress with a skirt that stopped at her ankles. The skirt had a slit opening that widened further down, reveling her long white boots with a blue line running along the side and stilettos of the same color. A light green bow was attached to the skirt with ribbons of the same color draping down. Sally had tided Amalia's dark blue hair into a braid with surprisingly enough, a blade holding it together and another light green bow on the front of the dress and on the side of her neck. Lastly, Amalia wore a white, see-through shawl over the dress and blue diamond earrings.

"You look so pretty!" Sally said. "I can only imagine what you mother and father would say if they saw you right now."

"Mom would gush over how beautiful I look, Dad would say I look like an angel, Illya would say I look super pretty and Ishtar would most likely make some smart remark." Amalia listed off as she sighed. "I just hope nothing stupid happens tonight is all."

"You mean with Opaline and Skylar? Is that what has you worried the most?" Sally asked.

"I could care less about Opaline and her smart mouth. What I'm really worried about… is talking with Skylar. She seems to genuinely want to be friends again, but she's too scared and still does whatever Opaline says."

"Well maybe if you get the chance to talk to her, you could find a way to get her to stand up to Opaline and then you two could start over again." Sally says.

"Yeah, maybe." Amalia says before the room door is opened by a gust of wind and Sylph flies in. however she was wearing a simple white dress with green waves and ruffles around the skirt.

"Ho, ho, now don't you clean up nicely? I bet your mother would be over the moon to see how pretty you look."

"Ha-ha, there a reason you came in here?" Amalia asked.

"Yes; Star's finished getting ready and she and Marco are waiting on you."

"Okay then, I'm coming." Amalia said as she followed Sylph out of Marco's room. "We'll see you later tonight Sally."

"Amalia wait," Sally said as walked over and handed her a decorative skeleton mask, "remember? Marco asked you to grab this for him when you were finished getting ready in here."

"Oh right, he said this mask goes well with his outfit." Amalia said as she took the mask from Sally. "Thanks Sally, we'll see you later."

"Okay, remember to have fun tonight." Sally said as she walked out of Marco's room and back to her own. As she entered her room walked over to her work desk where she kept Star and Marco's eggs, and began to go over some of her old notes. As Sally looked at her notes, she didn't notice both eggs slightly shake.

* * *

Amalia and Sylph entered her and Star's room where they found Marco in his black tuxedo.

"Wow Marco, you look… really…. Really nice." Amalia said glancing away with a light dusting of pink on her cheeks.

"I… was about the say the same thing about you Amalia, you look incredible." Marco said smiling. "Star, are you almost done? You really should come out here and see how Amalia looks."

"Marco don't go getting her all – " Amalia tried to say before the Star's excited voice was heard from her closet.

"Just a second! Let me just get my boots… on… there! Okay I'm coming!" Star said as she came out from her closet. She was wearing a sleeveless red and pink cocktail dress off the right shoulder with hearts around the skirt, a white bow with a heart in the middle tied around the waist and a heart on the left shoulder, a pink trim on the bottom of the skirt, long white gloves, and high heel boots with hearts on the bottoms and sides. She had her hair in a big top knot with curls hanging over her ears, with her normal headband. When Star saw Amalia in her dress, she smiled and sprinted over to grab her hands. "Amalia you look so amazing! I almost didn't know it was you standing there for a second!"

"Heh, thanks Star." Amalia said as Star let go of her hands. "You don't look have bad yourself, that dress really goes along great with your hearts and headband."

"Thanks. You know; Marco was the one who said I should wear this for the ball tonight." Star said as she glanced to the side, feeling her cheeks heat up a little.

"Wow Marco, didn't think you knew a thing or two about formal wear. I might have to tell my family's royal tailor and see if you can't give them some tips." Amalia said teasingly as she handed Marco the mask he asked for.

"Ha-ha, very funny." Marco said smiling as he put the mask on his face. "Well? How do I look?"

"You look like a well-dressed undead skeleton." Amalia said.

"I think Marco looks more like that other masked guy from that movie we watched two weeks ago." Star said. "What was his name again? El Popo?"

"You mean El Zorro Star." Marco corrected. "And he wore a black mask, cape and had a sword."

"Well you don't have a cape," Star said, "but you do have that sword from when we all went to Draclord."

"Hey yeah, you could wear that along with this outfit!" Amalia said.

"Sigh; alright, alright. If it will get us going faster." Marco said as he went to go get his sword.

A few minutes later, Marco came back with sword in hand and fastened it to his belt.

"Okay, I've got my sword. Now can we get going?" Marco huffed.

"Alright Diaz, don't have a cow." Amalia said. "Star, fi you could call our ride now?"

"On it!" Star says as she takes out the bell Tom gave her along with the hammer. She then hits the bell with the hammer causing a long "Gong" sound to be heard. Soon a column of flames erupts next to the balcony which was soon followed by a demonic elevator of sorts as the doors open and smoke bellows out and a bridge extends out.

"Is anyone else getting the smell of burnt toast from our… ride?" Sylph asked.

"Yeah, why exactly does it smell like that?" Marco asked.

"Well it is the Underworld we're talking about here guys." Star said. "Now come, let's go."

Marco helped Star and Amalia inside first before stepping in himself while Sylph sat on his shoulder.

"Which floor mortals and spirit?" the demon attached to the elevator asked them.

"Umm floor?" Marco asked looking to Star and Amalia.

"Don't look at me, Star you tell him." Amalia said.

"Oh okay. Umm, I guess the bottom floor please?" Star told the demon.

"Please take your seat and remain in them until your desired floor is reached." The demon said as the bridge folded back up and the doors began to close.

The three teens took their seats with Star sitting left and Marco sitting on the right next to Amalia while Sylph remained on Marco's shoulder. Marco could see the happy look on Star's face about the fun they would have at the ball. But when he looked over at Amalia he saw that she looked a little nervous if not a… worried as she looked out the window at the blazing fire they were passing.

" **It probably has to do with seeing her old friends again and how she's going to handle it.** " He thought. Marco then felt someone pocking his check. He looked and saw that it was Sylph, telling him to look down by pointing. He looked and saw that Amalia had her hand balled up into a fist which was also shaking slightly. Marco then placed his hand over Amalia's which caused her looked down at her hand before looking towards him. She then saw Sylph fly off of Marco's shoulder and onto hers where she just sat silently. Amalia smiled slight at the concern the two were showing for her.

* * *

 **(Underworld, Cathedral Dance Hall)**

"No, stop!" Opaline said as walked up to a hooded person who was about to smash a walking skeleton that was chained up to the wall with a spiked mace. "What are you two doing?" she asked.

"Umm, getting the finishing touches for the Blood Moon Ball done?" the hooded man asked.

"Oh for the love, Tom! Come here please." Opaline asked as the demon prince came walking out of the dance hall. "Didn't you say you wanted to keep everything low key for the ball tonight?"

"Yeah? Why, what's up?" Tom asked before he say the chained up skeleton and mace in the hooded man's hands. "Oh, okay I see what's up now. Guys look, I'm not sure what… this is. But I said keep the whole "Dark tone" of the ball low key, remember? I don't want this to make Star or her friend uncomfortable."

"So no smashing each other to piece, got that?" Opaline said as she summoned her spear and undid the latches on the skeleton, freeing him. "You, join the other skeletons in severing the guest's refreshments. And you in the hood? Go make sure that the sounds system is operational." She said as they left to go do as the Draclord princess said.

"Wow; thank you again for suggesting I put Sky in charge as Party Organizer." Tom said.

"As much as Skylar loves fun parties, she's also very good in organizing them as well." Opaline said as she looked at the check list Skylar gave her. "Speaking of her, I think she's currently making sure that the decorations in dance hall are set up." She said before glancing at Tom and noticing his bowtie was slightly crocked.

"What?" Tom asked as he noticed Opaline looking at him.

"Your bowtie is crocked."

"What!? Oh man, it must have happened when I was moving the tables."

"Sigh, calm down and hold still, I'll fix it." Opaline said as used her spear to make the clipboard levitate as she began to fix Tom's tie.

While she was doing this, Tom took the time to get a good look at Opaline dress. She was wearing a short-sleeved ball dress with the right side being white and left being purple. She wore purple stocking that had diamond designs sown into them with white heels, a purple sash tied around her waist, white gloves and finally a purple orchid flower in her hair completed her look.

' **She really knows how to looks good for these things doesn't she? Not to say that she doesn't always look nice – where the heck is this coming from!?** ' he thought before Opaline's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"There, now you look like a proper prince, you hot head." She said jokingly.

"Oh thanks, miss Jewel collector." He said smirking as the purple-eyed girl huffed with a small smile, before her personal guard appeared before the two.

"My apologies for interrupting My Lady, but Princess Butterfly as well as Princess Dalmasca have arrived." He informed.

"Thank you Kayron." Opaline said in slight annoyance in her voice, which Tom noticed.

"Opa?" Tom said. "Remember, it's only for one night, okay?" he said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Right, right. Don't worry I'll be fine… hopefully. Kayron, lead us to our guests so that we may greet them."

"As you wish."

"Blegh!" Sylph said as she flew out of the elevator. "We go from the smell of burn toast to the smell of burning sulfur! It stinks!"

"So this is the Underworld, huh?" Marco said as he stepped out next and took a look around. "I was kind of expecting more... fire and screaming."

"Yeah, this place looks pretty tame to most place on Draclord if you compare them." Amalia said as Marco helped her out.

"Well the fire and scary stuff that you hear about this place is usually just all smoke in mirrors, It's not so bad once you get used to it." Star said as she held out her hand for Marco to help her out last.

As the demon elevator left, the four were approached by Kayron, Tom and Opaline.

"Thank you Kayron, you are dismissed for the rest of the evening. If I need anything else, I'll call for you." Opaline said.

"Of course, Milady." Kayron said as he bowed before vanishing into a purple portal.

"Star Butterfly," Tom said. "don't you clean up nicely. And Princess Amalia, you don't look half-bad yourself."

"Uh thanks…I guess?" "Yeah, your suite looks good on you." Star and Amalia said.

"A pleasure to see you again, Star." Opaline said kindly before looking to Amalia. "Amalia…"

"Hello Bijou," Amalia said in a deadpan voice as she did a little curtsy.

"Yes so, this person here is your date for the evening?" Opaline asked pointing to Marco as she didn't recognize him due to his mask and sombrero. "And I see yet another familiar face with you." She said when she spotted Sylph sitting on Marco's shoulder.

"And I see your still as pompous as the day you split off from Amalia and took sweet little Skylar with you, rock collector." Sylph said with her arm folded. "I guess the strength of your magic wasn't the only thing that changed now was it?"

"Sylph," Marco said.

"Sigh, fine. I'll be mindful of my words while we're here… unless I'm provoked into doing so." She said looking right at Opaline.

"Okay then," Tom said, "Star I got you this." He said as he surprised and freaked everyone out by pulling out a red and black spider that had horns sticking out from the sides of its thorax.

"What in all good creation is that thing!?" Sylph shouted.

"What? It's a hair…. thing, It'll help Star fit in more down here. I also did get one for Amalia too if she- "

"No thank you! I'm fine, don't need the hair spider. Let's just go have fun!" Amalia said as she grabbed Marco and made a quick dash into the cathedral.

"Ahh, Tom?" Star said. "That was really sweet and all, but I kind of got my headband here. So I think I'm good. Also Amalia took a lot of time to get her hair like that so a spider thing might not be the best thing. Let's do what Amalia said and go have some fun, okay?" Star said as she quickly followed after her friends, leaving Tom to grumble and Opaline to groan.

"What?" Tom said, hearing her groan.

"Don't "What" me! What the heck was that? A spider in her hair? Are mental Tom? She already has a hair accessory in her hair."

"Well what the heck was I supposed to give her then!?"

"First off; calm down, or else you'll lose our cool… again. Second you could have given her a flower to wear on her wrist."

"Of course a flower, what the heck was I thinking!?" Tom yelled, angry at his stupid choice.

"Okay, okay. Just… just calm down Tom." Opaline said as she patted his back. "So not the best first start to try and get Star back, you still have the rest of the night. Plus, there's also the dance at the end, just make sure it's you and here dancing and you should be good from there, okay?"

"Yeah, your right." Tom said after calming himself down.

"Of course. When have I ever been wrong?"

"Well there was that time – "

"Rhetorical question you hot head! Just come on," Opaline said as she stomped to the building.

"And she says I'm the one with anger issues." Tom sighed as he followed after her.

* * *

As Star entered the cathedral, she was greeted by the sight of many other demon and other-worldly couples who were also attending the ball tonight.

"Hey Star, over here."

Star looked over and found Amalia, Marco and Sylph standing by a snack table.

"Hey guys, so how's this ball going so far?" Star asked as Marco handed her a cup of punch he got for her.

"Well aside from almost having your ex putting a spider-thing in my hair and having to endure the sound of Opaline's voice, not too good." Amalia said as she took a sip from her cup.

"Well at least the punch is normal enough." Marco said. "I was kind of expecting something like blood... or worse."

"Well thankfully you won't have that, since I was in charge of food and party decoration. So I hope everything is alright?"

The four turned and saw Skylar Atmósphera standing in front of them.

She was in a strapless sky-blue dress with white ruffle lace trim along the skirt and at the bottom, blue gloves that stopped at her elbows with yellow lightning bolts sewn into them and her sky-blue hair was done up into two short pig-tails with a tiara on top of her head. The skirt opened lower at the front to revel her black stocking and blue flats and finally, a raindrop-shaped necklace around her neck finished her attire.

"Wow Skylar, your dress looks so nice on you." Star said happy to see the Princess of Meterolia again.

"Haha, thank you Star. Your dress looks amazing too." Skylar said before she saw Amalia standing next to whom she could guess was her date for the ball. "I'm glad you could make it too Amalia, really."

"Yeah; well if I didn't come, Star would have probably been board out of her mind, stuck with her ex-boyfriend for the night." Amalia said as a joke which got her, Star and Skylar laughing.

"That joke was very dry in my opinion." Sylph said.

"And just what about it was dry Ms. Noisy butterfly?" Amalia asked.

"The whole thing really." She said rolling her eyes before flying off Marco's shoulder to Skylar. "At any rate, it's nice to see you again Skylar."

"Oh Sylph! I missed you so much!" Skylar said happily as she grabbed Sylph and began rubbing her against her cheek fondly. "Aww, I think you've gotten ever cuter since I last saw you."

"And you've certainly haven't gotten any less clingy whenever you see me." The wind spirit said as she pushed against Skylar's cheek. "Seriously, what is it about me that causes you to instantly want to smother me like that?"

"Well it's because of how tiny and cute you are of course."

"Sky? That's the same thing you said when you first saw her," Amalia said, "and that was before this little nuisance could even speak."

"Nuisance? Amalia, you can't still be calling her that, are you?" Skylar asked.

"Oh heck yeah I am. Now I have to deal with her again. Only this time, she's going to talk my ear off."

"Oh bite me." Sylph said.

"How about I let Ratha do that instead, huh?" Amalia said as the two began glaring as sparks began to build.

"Okay you two, break it up, please?" Marco said getting in between the two.

"Fine," Amalia said.

"I'll stop too, but only because Marco asked it of me." Sylph said.

"Wait, Marco?" Skylar asked looking at Amalia's date. "Is that really you, Marco?"

"Uh yeah," Marco said as he lifted up his mask and showed his face to Skylar, "Hey again Skylar."

"Hello again to you too. I didn't think you'd be Amalia's date." Skylar said surprised.

"I kind of asked Amalia on the spot, so yeah. So you really did all this for the ball?"

"Uh-huh. Tom put me in charge of setting everything up when the original planner called out sick, so I got to work. Although I had to work around a couple… weird things that the Blood Moon Ball usually has happen." Skylar said uncertain.

"Such as?" Amalia asked. But before Skylar could answer her, she's cut off by Opaline and Tom's approach.

"Hey guys, we were wondering where you went off to." Tom said. "Hey Star, why don't we take a picture together? We've got a photographer and everything set up over there." He said pointing to the place where a person wearing a red cloak was taking pictures of couples together.

"Well… I guess we could do that." Star said as she and Tom went to go take their picture.

"Come on Skylar, let's see if we can't find some demon boys here who are decent enough to talk to." Opaline said grabbing Skylar's hand and began leading her away.

"But I was – " Skylar tried to say but Opaline ignored her and kept leading her away as she looked back at Amalia and Marco sadly.

"I guess I should have expected that." Amalia said as she looked at her reflection in her drink which concerned Marco and Sylph.

"Amalia," Marco said.

"Hey come on Marco, don't start sounding sad on me here. I'm fine, I just… have to see if I can find a time I can talk with Skylar with Opaline getting in the way." Amalia said. "Now come on, let's see what else is going at this ball." She said as she grabbed Marco's hand and started leading him around to try and socialize.

* * *

In another place in the cathedral Opaline and Skylar surprisingly had found some demons who were not too terrible-looking to talk to. Well Opaline was doing most of the talking, while Skylar was just listening in and out at times.

' **I was really hoping to get to talk to Amalia more. And maybe… talk her about the letter I wanted to give her about being friends again.** ' She thought. Skylar had always counted on her friends for guidance sometimes, she also didn't like being forced to make her friends sad or feeling weak herself. She never wanted to stop being friends with Amalia and liked Opaline telling her what to do or who she could and couldn't speak to without her. Especially when it came to Amalia. ' **Ever since Opaline made me cut ties with Amalia, I've always been dependent on her to tell me what to do. Even if she is my friend, that doesn't me I should make my other friends feel bad and she knows how I don't like doing that. Why can't… why can't we all just be – '**

"Skylar!"

"Huh? What?" Skylar said snapping to attention when she looked and saw Opaline looking at her and that the two demon boys had left.

"What were you spacing out like that for?" Opaline asked.

"Oh, I was…. Just thinking is all."

"Thinking about what exactly? This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain someone, would it?" she asked annoyed.

"…. What… what if it was?" Skylar asked while her head was down.

"Excuse me?" Opaline asked.

"I said what if I was thinking about Amalia!?" Skylar said raising her head up to show the angry fire in her eyes which also held tears that were threating to fall from her eyes.

"H-Hey, what is it? Why do you look like your about cry all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm… I'm sick of this." Skylar said angrily as the tears in her eyes finally fell. "I'm sick of not being able to think for myself and I'm sick of the fact that I had to stop being Amalia's friend because you decided I couldn't if I wanted to keep you as a friend!" She yelled and ran away, leaving Opaline stunned and…. Frustrated.

* * *

Meanwhile, Marco and Sylph were hanging out near a table that had a bubbling caldron with a fish skeleton swimming in it after losing track of Amalia in the crowd.

"You think this is supposed to be a drink or something?" Marco asked the wind spirit on his shoulder.

"If it is, it's clearly meant for demons. You know, due to the undead fish swimming in it." Sylph said.

"Hey guys." Marco and Sylph looked and found Star walking over. "Boy am I glad I found you guys. Umm, where's Amalia at?"

"We got separated while trying to talk with some of the other… couples here," Sylph said doing the air quotes, "but I'm sure she can handle herself well enough until we can find her again."

"Yeah, so we're waiting by the table in case Amalia thinks to look for us here." Marco said. "So hey, how'd the picture taking with Tom go?"

Star then sighed tiredly which gave Marco and Sylph a clear answer as to how it went.

"I take it you ended up not taking a picture with your him then?" Sylph asked as she began to take a sip from Marco's cup.

"No we didn't, due to the fact that Tom wanted us to take the picture while covered in blood." Star said annoyed while Marco went wide eyed and Sylph spat out the drink. "Oh and that's not the worse part."

"How in the world is that not the worse part!?" Sylph said.

"How about the fact that the blood was unicorn blood?" Star said, which further surprised the two.

"Wait, but doesn't Tom know your friends with PonyHead? Who is in fact a unicorn herself?" Marco asked.

"I know, right? So I told him nicely that I was not going to take a picture covered in unicorn blood."

"And how did he take?" Sylph asked.

"Well I think he was getting angry about it, due to the fact that I saw him doing something with his hand behind his back and saw some guy holding that bunny he has while he was petting it." Star said. "So I told him I was going to go get a drink, but I actually just… needed some time away from him."

Marco then grabs a drink from the table ( **Thankfully it wasn't from the caldron next to them** ) and handed it to Star, who took it with a thankful smile.

"Thanks Marco," she said as she took a sip before seeing the undead skeletal fish swim up from the caldron. "Hi Henry!"

"You just got to this table and your already naming things, oh sweet creation." Sylph said as Marco chuckled a little.

* * *

Meanwhile, after making her way out of the large crowed of guests, Amalia found herself at another table that looked to have party favors for the guests. Except some of them looked very weird, from eyeballs floating in a tube of purple goop to chained up skeletal puppies…. That were still alive.

"What the heck kind of party favors are these?" Amalia said creeped out by the strange gifts. "I am defiantly for sure not going to be taking anything from here when we leave. Just looking at these things makes want to use the restroom just to wash the images out of my mind."

After asking someone where the restrooms were, Amalia found and entered the woman's side. To her surprise and relief, the place was normal enough.

"Thank sweet Bahamut for –, " Amalia's thanks for a normal restroom were soon stopped when she heard the sounds of light sniffling. Amalia quietly closed the door behind her and tried to see where the sound was coming from. As she came to the fourth stall, the sniffling she heard became choked sobs. Amalia looked down and saw two legs that had a familiar pair of blue flats and black stockings on. ' **Looks like she hasn't noticed I came in since she's crying so much. I wonder what happened?** ' Amalia thought. ' **Well I did say if I got the chance to talk to her alone I would but. Sigh… alright, let's do this.** '

Amalia then knocked on the stall door, which instantly made its occupant gasp in surprise.

"H-Hello? I-is someone out there?" The person asked.

"Hey Skylar." Amalia said as she could already tell that her old friend's eye had just widened in surprise.

"A-Amalia?" Skylar said in silent shock at hearing her former friend's voice. "W-Why are you in here?"

"Funny; that's a question… as well as a couple other ones that I should be asking you." Amalia said as she leaned next to the door of Skylar's stall. "So let's start with the first one, why are you in here?"

"I… I just… needed a few moments to myself is all."

"Away from Opaline you mean?" Amalia asked.

"Yeah. So I came in here to… to think somethings over." Skylar said.

"I figured you'd spend the whole night with her. But I guess the fact that you got away from her for a while works out for me, seeing as we can now talk about a few things."

"You… you really want to talk to me?"

"Yes," Amalia said, "it's in regards to the letter… you put in my friend's hoodie when we saw each other at Wall Mart. But first, I'm going to need you to come out of the stall first."

"B-But I,"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything about you crying in here. Just… just come on out so we can talk."

Amalia waited until she heard the sound of the lock on the stall. The door then opens as Amalia saw Skylar walk out and stand in front of her. When Amalia saw her tear stained cheeks and eyes that looked like they were holding more unshed tears, it made her heart feel as if it was being squeezed. But Amalia soon left something stir inside of her when she saw Skylar's hair.

For as long as Amalia had known Skylar, she knew that her hair indicated how she felt. It was normally a bright blue and moved with an excited energy as if it was dancing in the wind. But right now, her hair was nothing close to that. It was a very un-healthy looking pale blue as it sagged flatly with a few strands covering her face a bit.

' **She's not…. She's not supposed to look like this. She's should never have to look like this or have to feel like this.** ' Amalia thought as soon learned that the feeling she was experiencing… was her anger. An anger she had for what Skylar was going through.

"I… I must look really terrible right now, huh?" Skylar said in while letting out a small laugh, but Amalia could tell it was force to try and hide her sadness.

Amalia then took Skylar by her hand as she leads them out of the restroom.

"A-Amalia?" Skylar asked surprised.

"Don't… wait until we find a place to sit. Then we can talk, okay?" Amalia said, with Skylar nodding her head, doing as she asked.

After leaving the restroom, the two Draclord princesses found a place to sit that was near a stain glass depiction of a red crescent moon. Once they were both seated next to each other, Amalia took ahold of Skylar's other hand before talking.

"Okay; Skylar listen, before I ask my question. I thought you should know something."

"Okay," Skylar said a bit unsure," what is it?"

"When Marco found the letter you wanted to give me, I… I didn't want to read it at all. In fact, the only reason I would have even thought to glance at it was due to Marco." Amalia said.

"Marco?"

"Yeah, he figured out that the letter was your way of asking me if you wanted to be friends again. But it just confused me, why would you want to be friends with me again? Someone who's not good enough to be a friend?"

"Amalia," Skylar said. She then gave Amalia's hands a reassuring squeeze which got her attention, "now I'm really wishing I had been brave enough to hand you the letter myself. Because Amalia; what I wrote in that letter, it said how much I cherished our time together when we were friends."

"Really?" Amalia asked.

"Yes; in fact, I was hoping to also get a chance to slip away from Opaline so I could talk to you about the letter." Skylar and. "And also…"

"Also?" Amalia repeated.

"And also see if maybe…. Maybe we could be… be friends again. If… you want to be that is?"

"I'm… not sure." Amalia said as she looked down at her lap. "Do you think you can wait a bit…. After I think it over, please?"

Amalia soon saw Skylar's hair begin to lift and sway as it started to regain its vibrant blue color. She then saw the joyful and hopeful smile on her face and it honestly… made her feel happy to see that smile that was as bright as the sun again.

"Okay Kylar, keep smiling like that and the demons here are going to start asking how the sun got inside this place?" Amalia said jokingly which made Skylar start to laugh.

"I told you already Mali, my smile isn't that bright." Skylar said in between giggling with Amalia joining her. Their laughter was soon cut short when the two heard someone speaking into a microphone.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my pleasure that request that you all look upward please." The speaker said.

Amalia and Skylar looked up along with everyone else and saw a part of the ceiling that was in the shape of a hand lower before the diamond imprint in its palm opened to revel a red crescent moon shaped skylight.

"When the light of the Blood Moon dribbles down and selects two lucky souls… and binds their souls together for eternity. In its hypnotic, ruby brodum." The speaker said.

"Hey Skylar, what's happening now?" Amalia asked, still looking up as the skylight.

"Oh it's the main event of the Blood Moon Ball, the Blood Moon's light will shine down from that skylight and whoever is dancing underneath it are destined to be a couple for life." She explained as the music began to play. "But that's not the song Tom asked for. I need to go talk to the person playing right now, I'll be right back." She said as she went to go talk to the organist.

"Yeah, okay." Amalia said as she began to walk towards the center, moving passed other dancing couples.

As Skylar was making her way to the where the organist was, she bumped into Tom.

"Oh Tom."

"Sky! Thank the Underworld I found you! What's the deal? I thought you told the guy playing to do the song I picked."

"I did. I don't know why he's playing something different."

"Ugh! This is starting to fall apart; this is starting to fall apart fast!" Tom said getting frustrated which Skylar took note of.

Soon Opaline appeared before the two.

"What's going on? Why is the wrong music playing and why are not with Star, Tom?" Opaline asked.

"I had to go see why the guy is playing the wrong piece of music, so I asked Star to stay put." Tom said. "Then I ran into Sky, who was also going to see what the deal was since she told the guys which song to play."

"Alright; so how's progress with Star going?" Opaline asked.

"Uh… still a bit choppy."

"What? How?"

"Didn't you and Star go have your picture taken?" Skylar asked. "I made sure the glitter was alright and everything."

"Glitter? What glitter?" Tom asked confused.

"The glitter that's supposed to fall when couples go for their picture? Opaline? Didn't you set it up like I asked?" Skylar asked looking to the white-haired princess.

"I did, but someone asked for my help on the something else, so I left next to the that second tub that was next to it. By the time I came back the glitter tub was gone."

"Ooooh, that glitter was for the pictures?" Tom said. "I thought that stuff was to decorate the tables, so I asked the guys to go ahead and set up the blood for the pictures."

"Blood!?" Skylar and Opaline shouted.

"Tom, that's the reason Skylar replaced the blood with glitter. First; there's no way Star would want to take a picture, covered in blood. And second; that was unicorn blood, you told us Star's friend is a unicorn!" Opaline said.

"Yeah! But they're not related, so I thought that she wouldn't mind!" Tom said back while Skylar just sighed. "Look can we just go change the music so that I can have my dance with Star? The Blood Moon is almost about to hit the skylight." he said as he when towards the organist with Opaline and Skylar following.

* * *

Meanwhile, Star was dragging Marco around other couple to try and get a better look at the skylight, while Sylph held on tightly to Marco's shoulder as to not fall off.

"Star slowdown, the skylight isn't going anywhere." Marco said as he apologized to a couple for bumping into them. "Besides, didn't Tom ask to wait for him to comeback?

"I know Marco, is just want to see if we can get a better look from elsewhere." Star said as she pulled her best friend along, while eyes stayed locked on the skylight. "Plus; Tom is knit-picking over the tiniest things, the wrong music isn't going to – " Star then stopped suddenly, causing Marco lightly bump into her.

"Why'd you suddenly stopped like that?" Sylph asked as she flew and sat on Star's top bun.

"I… don't know." Star said. "I just got this feeling all of sudden and it's telling me… we should head further in towards the center. Come on," she said pulling Marco along, this time at a calmer pace.

"Hey guys, look." Sylph said pointing ahead of them.

Star and Marco looked and saw Amalia; also making her way to the center as well while looking up at the skylight.

"It's Amalia, and she's headed for the center too." Marco said before he felt himself being pulled again as Star went after Amalia now.

"Amalia, hey." Marco said trying to get her attention, but she didn't hear him. "What's with her? It's like she's in some kind of trance."

"Um Marco? I don't think Amalia's the only one here in a trance." Sylph said as she waved her hand in from of Star, only to get no response. "Star's acting the same way. I don't know what's going on with them, but I think we better get to Amalia."

"Good idea." Marco said as moved ahead of Star towards Amalia, now being the one pulling Star.

As Amalia was making her way to the center of the dance floor, she began to feel as if she was guided to something. Something… unknown.

' **What's… what's this feeling I'm getting?** ' she thought. ' **It's like… it's like something or someone is telling me to go to the center. But why? What's waiting for me there?** ' her thought was soon stopped when she felt someone grab her left hand and turn her around. She soon felt another hand grab her right. She snapped out of her trance and was face to face with Star and Marco. "What the, guys? How long have been standing behind?"

"A few seconds?" Marco said before Star cut-in, apparently also coming out of her own trance.

"So hey, were you also looking to get a better look at the skylight too?" Star asked.

"Well something like – " But before Amalia could finish her sentence, the three are soon bathed in a blood-red light as everyone else gasps. They look and see that the light is coming from the skylight above them.

"Umm…" "Uh…" "Hehe…" the three said not sure what to do now.

"Oh for the love of… hold on." Sylph said as she off of Star's hair bun and stood in the middle of the three. She then generated a layer wind that lifted them off the ground slightly. "Okay let me explain now, you three are going to dance… but it's a dance that correlates with the Blood Moon. So which of you two are dancing with Marco first?"

"Wait what!?" Amalia said. "How about you explain first what the heck – "

"Can… can I go first?" Star said lifting her hand a little.

"Huh?" Both Marco and Amalia said.

"Well I mean, we did come here to dance and it's not like I don't know how to dance with two people." Star said.

"Wait, Star you know how to dance with two people?" Marco said.

"Good then, that makes this easier." Sylph said. "Star can dance with Marco first, while Amalia watches to get an idea of what to do."

"I still don't know what's going on." Amalia said.

"Then just be quiet and watch then." Sylph said as she pulled Amalia away to give Star and Marco some room.

"Hey Marco," Star said getting her friend's attention, "you okay?"

"Uh, yeah Star. Just a bit confused and surprised that you know how dance with two other people." Marco said.

"Well when you've been to the Bounce Lounge as long as this girl, you pick up a few things." She said smiling which caused Marco to laugh a little himself before the two heard the build up to the song.

 **(Song cue: Star Vs the Forces of Evil Soundtrack Blood Moon Waltz)**

"Okay," Marco said as he took hold of Star's hands, "ready?"

Star then squeezed his hands a little as she smiled at him.

"Mm-hm." Star said as they began to dance.

As the music played, Marco side spun and turned as he held Star by her shoulder and the small of her back. All the while Star felt as if she was in a dream the more she danced with Marco; a dream she felt she didn't want to wake up from as she and Marco glided across the floor with the help of the wind veil Sylph created.

Off to the side, Amalia and Sylph watched as Star and Marco danced.

"My, my; those two really know how to dance." Sylph said amazed. "I figured Star had an idea of ballroom dancing, but wasn't expecting something of this level from her. Look how graceful those two are together."

"Yeah," Amalia said captivated by how well her two friends were performing.

"How can you just say "yeah" at how well they're both –," Sylph then looked and saw Amalia wringing her hands slightly and a look of anticipation in her eyes as she watched Marco and Star. "Oh I see now; you're getting anxious about dancing with Marco next aren't you?" she said with a knowing grin on her face as Amalia cheeks started to burn red that even the light of the Blood Moon couldn't hide it.

"M-Maybe?" Amalia said looking away shyly. "It's just… they look like they're really enjoying their dancing and you said this was three-way dance, so I was just wondering… when it was going to be time to switch? You know; just to give Star a break, hehe."

"Right, sure, a break. Well you'll be switching soon."

"Huh?"

Sylph then flew over to Star and Marco and whispered into Star's ear. Star then glanced over at Amalia and smiled as she skated on the wind veil, over to her while pulling Marco with her. She then swung Marco from behind her as he stuck his hand out and grabbed Amalia, while Star let go sending the two of them twirling onto the dance floor.

Amalia then looked back at Star who mouthed, "I know you'll like it", and smiled.

"Amalia?" Marco said getting the girl's attention. "You going to be alright?"

"Huh? Oh yeah; haha, just wasn't expecting you to literally sweep me off my feet." She said giggling a little, before gasping in surprise as Marco quickly dipped and pulled her back up. "Whoa, where'd that come from?"

"Hehe, I kind of just… went with the flow?" Marco said laughing a bit himself which made Amalia smile as they continued to dance.

"Are you sure this is where you placed the organist?" Opaline asked wading through the guests behind Tom with Skylar following behind.

"I'm positive! I placed him and his organ in this direction!" Tom groaned. "The light of the Blood Moon is already out, I need to get the songs switched and get back to Star before it leaves!"

As Skylar followed behind Opaline and Tom, she noticed everyone's attention was on the center.

"I wonder what their all looking at?" she said stopping as Tom and Opaline walked on. She then moved passed a few couples to see what was going on and came before a sight that was both breath-taking and surprising. Skylar was seeing Amalia and Marco dancing elegantly under the light of the Blood Moon on a veil of wind. "Oh my, look at those two, incredible." She said amazed at how well the two swayed and twirled.

"Enjoying their performance, Skylar?"

Skylar then looked and found Sylph sitting on her shoulder, smiling.

"Oh Sylph, umm yes. To be honest; I didn't think Amalia was that good at dancing or Marco was such a good one himself, they both seems as if they done this before." Skylar said as she watched, before seeing Marco twirl Amalia away as someone else came skating in and took hold of Marco's hand. Skylar's eyes widened when she saw who it was now dancing with Marco. "Star? She's dancing with Marco as well!"

"Yes," Sylph said, "Star, Marco and Amalia were all in the center when the Blood Moon's light appeared. So naturally, I had to be nice and improves something for them. Do you remember the dance back corresponds with the Blood Moon?"

"Wait, so they're doing…" Skylar said surprised,

"Yep," Sylph said, "their performing the Blood Moon Tri-Waltz."

"Wow; that's a dance that hasn't been done in years, but their doing it so beautifully."

"Who's doing what beautifully?"

Skylar jumped in surprise and summoned her lightning bolt, but saw that it was just Tom and Opaline.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; sorry, didn't mean to surprise you like that Sky!" Tom said with his hands up in surrender.

"I told you not to sneak up on her like that." Opaline said.

"No, no you didn't." Tom said in a deadpan voice.

"Whatever. Anyway Skylar, what's so beautiful that caused you to lag behind…" Opaline stopped when she looked passed Skylar. "Who is that dancing… under the light of the Blood Moon!?"

"What!?" Tom said as he and Opaline quickly moved passed Skylar to get a better look.

What Tom saw was Star, his Star dancing with… the person that had come with Amalia. Speaking of Amalia; Opaline caught sight of her off to the side, with a look on anticipation as if waiting for something. That's when Opaline recognized the dance pattern Star and Amalia's date were doing, it was at that moment that both Tom and Opaline began to feel the same emotion emanate within them, pure, unrestrained anger.

Back with Star and Marco as they danced, Marco had a surprised look as Star whispered something into his ear.

"Amalia wants me to what!?" Marco said while Star smiled as they danced.

"Oh come on Marco, it's not that bad." Star said as she spun around Marco before falling back into his grasp. "When it's time to switch: I'll spin away, grab Amalia and spin her towards you. Then you just have to lift her up, do a quick spin and that's it." She explained.

"You make sound so easy like I've done that sort of thing before Star." Marco said before sighing. "I just hope I don't drop Amalia."

"Oh stop worrying Marco, Amalia and I know your too good of dancer to drop mess up what with how well you've been doing right now."

"Heh, thanks Star."

"No problem, now get ready okay?" Star said as Marco spun her away towards Amalia. Once Star was close, she stretched her arms out and grabbed Amalia as they both spun back towards Marco. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Amalia said readily as Star let her go spinning towards Marco.

As she drew closer, the wind underneath made her hair fan out in a majestic which made many of the guest believe they were looking at a blue haired angel right now. When she was with reach, Marco quickly lifted and held her up in the air as he spun around. This caused the everyone to clap their hands or whatever they had in celebration of such an amazing and unforeseen performance of the Blood Moon Waltz done between three dancers.

"Way to go you two!" Star said from the side, cheering loudly and happily.

"Ha, and you were worried about dropping me." Amelia said smiling as she looked down at Marco who was also smiling himself.

"Well can you blame me, I'm just glad I didn't drop you when I – Whoa!" Marco was then harshly pushed, causing him to drop inadvertently throw Amalia to the ground behind him as he slid across the ground next to her.

 **(Song end)**

"Ugh, What the heck was that?" Amalia groaned as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Umm… Amalia?" Marco said in a clearly worried and slightly freighted voice.

Amalia looked up and came face to face with Tom and Opaline, both of their faces with a clear look of anger on them. They both soon looked up and saw the skylight closing and light of the Blood Moon disappearing as the regular light came back on.

Tom and Opaline's gaze slowly shifted to Marco and Amalia who were slowing getting back up. Tom's three eyes began to glow a very threating and dangerous red, while Opaline's hand began twitching before her spear appeared in her hand in a dark purple light.

"You… two… little… insects!" Opaline said in a threating and dark voice as black crystal spikes began to spring up from the ground.

"That dance," Tom said with his glowing red eyes, "was meant… FOR ME!" he yelled as the entire dance hall was engulfed in flames, with more shooting out from ground dangerously close to the other guests.

"Why!" Opaline shouted in anger looking to Amalia as more dark crystal spikes shot out of the ground. "Why did you have to come here! Why couldn't you just stay out of my sight and my life!"

Amalia instinctively got in front of Marco and summoned her sword with a flick of her hand.

"Amalia!" Marco said.

"Marco, stay behind me." Amalia said readying her sword as Tom began to rise into the air and Opaline pointed her spear at her and Marco.

But before the anger-fueled prince and princess could do anything, Tom was suddenly frozen in a block of ice and Opaline was entrapped in golden sphere and soon incased with electric blue chains. Amalia and Marco looked behind the two now imprisoned royals and saw Star with her wand out pointed at Tom with… Skylar standing next to her with her lightning bolt out and pointed at Opaline. Star then quickly made her way over to her friends to check on them.

"Are you guys okay, you're not hurt, right?" Star asked worriedly.

"We're fine Star." Marco said.

"Yeah, aside from a slightly sore back, I'm good." Amalia said before Skylar ran up to her and hugged her tightly, sobbing lightly into her shoulder. Amalia smiled and patted her back to comfort her. "It's okay Kylar, I'm alright. So relax, okay? Last thing I need to see is your hair making you look like a Popo that needs a haircut." She said as she pulled Skylar from her shoulder and wiped the tears from her face as Star and Marco looked on smiling.

"I think Amalia and Skylar are going to be friends again real soon." Star whispered to Marco smiling.

"If they do then that would be nice in my opinion." Sylph said sitting on Marco's sombrero, smiling.

* * *

 **(Earth, Diaz residence, Star and Amalia's room balcony)**

After making double sure that Marco and Amalia were okay and Star zapping Tom's anger free day button from 53 to 0; Star, Marco and Amalia called the demonic elevator to go home. However, Amalia being concerned about Skylar, decided to bring her back with them which Marco and Sylph had no issue with and Star was more than happy with Skylar coming. After reaching the balcony to Star and Amalia's room, the elevator doors open so they could all get out.

Star, Amalia and Skylar got out first; all three of them having taken off their shoes to relax their aching feet, and Marco with Sylph still on his hat got out last, digging into his pocket and pulling to give to the demon on top.

"It's a thanks for the ride." Marco told the demon.

"Thanks mortal." The demon said as it sank back down and disappeared in a column of flames.

Marco walked in from the balcony to see Star and Amalia showing Skylar around their bedroom.

"Wow, so you both used your magic to make this room? Amazing." Skylar said

"Yeah, we both said the same thing when we first did this." Star said.

"Surprisingly enough, are magic's pretty well together, they just can't effect anything from our dimensions by themselves." Amalia said, before the room door flew open and Sally came rushing in and grabbed Star and Marco and pulled them out into the hall, leaving Amalia and Skylar alone.

"What the! Sally!" Star said in shock.

"What are you doing! What's the hurry!" Marco said just as caught off guard as the bespectacled girl dragged them.

"Youbothhavetocomeseethisyournotgoingtobelieveit!" Sally said so quickly they could hardly understand her as continued to drag them along.

Meanwhile back in the bedroom, Amalia and Skylar stood dumbfound on what just happened.

"Umm… wasn't that your old baby-sitter, Amalia?" Skylar asked.

"Uh yeah, my mom sent her here to help with my training." Amalia answered.

"Oh… so why was she?"

"Don't know, half the time I can't tell what's going through her head." She said as her flopped down in her bed in a heap. Skylar laughed a little as she joined Amalia on her bed and laid next to her.

"Your bed's amazingly soft, I'm almost a little jealous." Skylar said jokingly.

"Yeah, well you get you sleep in this bed with me tonight, so you'll get the pleasure of getting to feel how soft it really is." Amalia said.

The two then sat in silence for a time before Skylar spoke.

"So Amalia, have you… seen Cressa at all… since we all... split apart?"

"…. Yeah, I did. In fact, she stayed over here for a bit one day before heading back home. I don't know if she's still there or not, what with her and her mother constantly moving."

"Oh, how was she doing?"

"She was doing great. Got a new bow and everything, and she's still a good shot."

"Mm, that's good to hear."

Skylar then moved her head over closer to Amalia's head.

"I really missed you Skylar." Amalia said.

"I missed you too, Amalia." Skylar said as the two happily laid next to each other, happy about the opportunity to rekindle their friendship.

The peaceful moment was soon shattered, when Star kicked to door open surprising the two to sit up.

"Oh for the! Star! What is it that you can't knock first!" Amalia said. "I know technically this is also your room but – "

"Amalia! Mine and Marco's eggs hatched!" Star said excitedly.

"What!? They hatched!" Amalia shouted. "Then what the heck are we doing here!? Let's go see!" she said as she grabbed Skylar and raced after Star to Sally 's room.

As the three came back to the room, Amalia and Skylar's widened in surprise when they saw Marco being nuzzled to death by a young miniature version of the Valstrax they fought back on Draclord.

"Oh my goodness!" Skylar said. "It's so adorable!"

"Mama's back sweetie, come on out!" Star said,

Soon a mini- metallic four-legged dragon with semi- large wings that connect halfway down to its tail and tiny horns along its head, came running over and tackled Star to the ground and began nuzzling her like crazy.

"I was only for a second and you missed me that much? Aww, you are too cute and precious." Star said sweetly as she cuddled with her new pet/friend.

Amalia just looked on at the seen in front of her until Sylph flew over and landed on Amalia's shoulder, the bottom part of her dress seeming to have been torn off.

"Not. A. Word." Sylph said.

Amalia just grinned. "Yeah, I'm defiantly going to love having these little guys around." She said as she bended down and started petting Star's new baby Kushala Daora.

* * *

 **A/N: Thus ends Blood Moon Ball pt.1! I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it! So Draclord has a dance that correlates with the Blood Moon huh? what could this mean? Well... not telling. Anyway this chapter will have a continuation with Blood Moon Ball pt.2 written by Mario, who has also upload a chapter of the story Quest of the Broken Star.**

 **Anyway, see you all in BMB pt.2! ;)**


	20. Chapter 19: Tribunal (Blood Moon, pt2)

**Hey everyone! (Geez I really need to think of a better way of starting these A/Ns. Maybe, "Welcome all Dracanoids, Mewmans, and humans!" No, that's lame. Hmm, I'll think on it.)**

 **We're back! It's been quite a while since Keyblade posted BMB part 1, but in that time I wrote chapter 15 of my story Quest for a Broken Star and hammered out this 20,000 word chapter! (Whoa, that's even longer than one of my full stories!) Yeah, it's a long one. It's a bit information-intensive, but it's cool information and it helps build the world, so… yaaay…! And we finally figure out the mystery of Opaline's… erm… rudeness, what Skylar's been hiding, and what exactly happened during the Blood Moon Dance! Also, the chapter is called 'Tribunal,' so there definitely gonna be something about that! Like I said, it's long. So find somewhere comfy and get reading!**

 **The one solitary review:**

 _ **Xzbro - Hehe, yeah it's back! And now it's back again! It might seem like the story's on hiatus, but it's actually just us being slowpokes. :P**_

 **Why are you still reading this? Go on and read the story!**

* * *

Chapter 19: Tribunal (The Blood Moon, Part 2)

* * *

 _Draclord Dimension, Gemnia Kindgom, Bijou Castle_

 _Several days ago_

A white-haired girl gazed through the five-inch-thick glass at the comatose form lying within. Seeing her, the blurry memories rushed back in an uncontrollable torrent.

The woman behind the glass hadn't moved for months.

It had all started when she had suddenly collapsed, muttering about a pain in her skull. She was taken into the hospital ward, where five doctors had worked through the night to treat her. But when everyone woke up in the morning, she and all the doctors in the room had fallen into the same comatose state she was in now. Then they put her behind the thick glass, so that now the only way for the white-haired girl to see her was through it. Everyone who had gone in to check on her or run tests had met the same fate as the doctors, but from remote testing they had determined that she wouldn't last more than two more weeks.

The girl couldn't talk to her, couldn't touch her, couldn't get close enough to even see her clearly. All she could do was stare through the glass. She had half a mind to risk it all just to be close to the woman inside, but she knew that if she too caught the disease, her kingdom would have no successor and would surely fall into disarray. That's why she had to stand strong and unaffected. For her kingdom. That responsibility was really the only thing keeping her going anymore. Well, that, and the support of the blue-haired girl next to her.

The girl in question wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her. "I'm so sorry about your mom, Opa, but would you maybe just consider—"

So softly that the blue-haired girl could barely hear, Opaline murmured, "Not right now, Skylar. Not right now."

"Yeah. Okay." Skylar sighed. "Okay."

Skylar really did hope that Opaline would eventually tell Amalia what had happened. Everyone in Draclord knew that the Queen of Gemnia had succumbed to a likely fatal, unrecognizable disease. But Amalia had left just before all the kingdoms were told, so she hadn't heard the news.

She didn't _understand._

Maybe if Amalia understood, she'd be okay with being friends with Opaline again. Maybe things could go back to how they were, when they were all happy together.

So later that night, Skylar took out a scrap of paper and scrawled a note on it. A note that would never reach its intended recipient.

* * *

 _Earth, Diaz Residence, Star and Amalia's Bedroom_

 _Present day_

Skylar was the first up that morning, as she always rose with the sunrise. She shook awake a groggy Amalia and exclaimed, "Wow, Amalia! This bed is like sleeping on a cloud! And trust me, I've done that a few times."

Star was immediately awake. "Whoa, you've slept on a cloud before! What's it like?"

"Oh, loads of times! They are pretty comfortable, but you wake up all wet and soggy."

"Well, I guess my bed is better than a cloud then, huh?" said Amalia triumphantly.

Skylar shrugged. "Yeah, I'd say so."

"So, what do we wanna do today?" Then Star gasped, suddenly out of bed. "My egg! I mean, my elder dragon!" She raced down the stairs and through the back door into the backyard.

They had decided to keep Star's Kushala Daora and Marco's Valstrax in the backyard with Ratha and Saber. So far, no one had killed each other yet.

"Wait, So where exactly did these come from?" Skylar asked as she caught up with Star.

"We were all battling an adult Valstrax in Draclord, then after we defeated it, we were flying back home when we saw these eggs! So, we took them home with us, and they hatched!" Amalia explained.

"Wow! They're so cute! What are their names?"

"Oh right, we haven't named them yet!" Star exclaimed. "What about… Marco Jr.! Or Amalia Jr.! Oh, I know, Ratha Jr.!"

Amalia laughed at Star's suggestions. "No, Star, elder dragons are born with a name. It's just up to you to figure it out."

"Oh. How do I do that?"

Skylar perked up. "Oh, this is so cool! You have to be touching her, and just think about a name. It should just pop into your head. If it does, that means that the elder dragon recognizes you as its mother!"

"Whoaaaa!" But Star couldn't help but wonder, "What if it doesn't pop into my head?"

Skylar frowned. "Well… I don't think you need to worry about that! You'll be fine!"

So Star slowly reached out toward her Kushala Daora. When her hand was about five inches away, the elder dragon stretched its neck forward to nuzzle her hand. Star grinned. "Hey, big girl! You're so cute, aren't you?" The baby elder dragon let out a sort of growling purr as Star rubbed her head. "What should I call you, girl, huh? What's your name?" The baby Kushala Daora purred again. After a moment, Star started, "Wait, I think there's something…. S… Sa… So—Sora! Yeah, I think it's Sora!

"Whoa, that's a cool name!" Amalia exclaimed.

"Hey, Sora, how are you, girl?" Sora let out a happy little yelp, and Star felt her dress rustle in some sort of wind. But she couldn't feel any wind. "Whoa, what was that?"

Amalia explained, "When Sora gets older, she'll be able to create wind barriers. But for now, she can only blow little gusts."

"Wow, that's so cool! Now let's find out the Valstrax's name!"

Skylar frowned. "I wouldn't suggest—"

But Star confidently extended her hand to Marco's dragon. The Valstrax inched closer to her, examining her hand curiously. Then its jaws opened wide and snapped closed around where Star's hand had been just a moment before.

"Aaaaaaah, what's he doing?!" Star shouted.

" _That's_ what happens when the elder dragon doesn't recognize you as his mother," Skylar explained.

The Valstrax tackled Star to the ground, clawing at her. Star managed to parry his swipes with her wand, but the elder dragon had her pinned, and she knew she couldn't keep it up for much longer. She shouted, " _Super Strong Rainbow Shield!_ " which conjured a magical rainbow shield. Even so, she could feel the shield breaking as the Valstrax attacked it.

"We need Marco!" Amalia shouted over Star's screams. She turned to run inside, but Skylar grabbed her. Then she conjured a fluffy white cloud and climbed on, Amalia sitting next to her. The cloud flew them up to Marco's open bedroom window. The two girls climbed through, shouting Marco's name.

He was up in a karate stance immediately, and Sylph rose from Marco's nightstand and flitted to his shoulder. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

"Your Valstrax is attacking Star!" Amalia shouted.

Skylar dragged him to the window. "C'mon, out we go."

"Wait, what? That's like a thirty-foot drop!" Marco protested.

Skylar pushed him over anyway.

The two girls, joined by Sylph, jumped back onto the cloud with Marco and glided down to the ground, where Star's shield was cracking under the Valstrax's weight. Sora had joined the brawl, scratching at the Valstrax's back as best she could.

"Do something!" Amalia shouted at Marco.

"What do I do?"

"I don't know, _something_!" Skylar shouted, as if that would help.

Feeling dumb, Marco whistled. It got the elder dragon's attention, and he stopped tearing at Star for a moment. Star called off Sora.

"Here, good boy, come here," Marco cooed to the baby elder dragon, just saying whatever came to mind. "Leave her alone. Come here."

The Valstrax slowly detached itself from Star and slunk over to Marco.

Marco held out his hand as the Valstrax approached him. He nuzzled Marco's hand, while Marco murmured, "Good Valstrax. Good Valstrax. Good Jecht."

Skylar was the only one who heard him. "Wait, what did you just say, Marco?"

"I said, 'Good…' I mean, 'Good… good Jecht?"

He pronounced it somewhere between the word _jet_ and a sound like he was coughing up a hairball.

"Amazing," murmured Sylph.

"Awww, Sora and Jecht! So cute! I bet they're going to be best friends!" Skylar drawled, as Sora and Jecht bared their sharp teeth and hissed at each other.

Amalia frowned. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

Marco and Star went to calm their elder dragons, leaving just Amalia and Skylar. Skylar knew this was her chance to spill everything, to tell Amalia about Opaline's mother, and how the loss and the stress of preparing to be the next queen had gotten to Opaline, and how they could hopefully all still be friends. Yet, somehow, when she opened her mouth, something else came out: "I want to go see Cressa."

Amalia tilted her head as if wondering why Skylar would ask that question. Skylar wasn't sure herself, honestly, but after being restrained by Opaline for so long, it felt wrong to admit that she missed the former Princess of the Bow. Amalia drew Skylar out of her thoughts with her response. "I don't know if we'll be able to find her, but we can try."

Skylar tried to recover. "Yeah, it's just… I mean with all the weird stuff that happened at the Blood Moon Ball, I figured you three probably want to know what's going on. And Cressa's the former Princess of the Moon and everything, so maybe she would know something about the Blood Moon Bond."

Marco appeared beside Skylar. "Yeah, that'd be a great idea!"

"I know plenty about the Blood Moon Bond, if you're wondering," Sylph suggested from Marco's shoulder.

Marco turned to look at the little wind spirit. "Right, like you knew _plenty_ about Star's sleep-spelling."

Sylph huffed and crossed her arms.

"So, how do we find her?" Skylar wondered.

Star walked over to them, brushing her hands off. "Well, last time we checked, she was at the bottom of the ocean somewhere in the Oceania dimension."

"Whoa… how do we get there?" Skylar wondered.

"Sally made us all giant air bubbles last time," Amalia explained.

"Awesome! Then let's go!" Skylar honestly couldn't wait to see another of her old friends again.

"We don't know if she's still there," argued Marco. "She said she's been moving a lot."

"True," concluded Amalia. "But it's still worth a shot."

"Sally!" Amalia shouted, waking Sally, who had still been asleep.

"What is so important to wake me up at this ungodly hour of the morning?" she grumbled.

Amalia frowned. "It's nine o'clock!"

"Exactly."

"We're going to see Cressa again, to see if she knows anything about the Blood Moon!" Star explained excitedly.

"Right, and you'll need my magic bubbles to go underwater."

"Exactly," Amalia copied.

Sally groaned and rolled out of bed. She groped for her grimoire and flipped through it. She murmured something under her breath and snapped her fingers, making a steaming cup of brown coffee appear in her hands. She took a long sip, then looked up at Marco, who was giving her a questioning look. "What?"

"Isn't it weird drinking things made of magic? Like… there aren't any actual coffee beans in it or anything, right?"

Sally shrugged. "It has a bit of a magical… essence, but I rather like the flavor."

"I don't know," Amalia argued, "I've always preferred _real_ food."

"It is real!" Sally protested, finally finishing her mug and setting it down. "Now, let's go!"

* * *

 _Unknown Location, Oceania Dimension_

The five teenagers soon plunged into the ocean, encased in large bubbles. Amalia sheathed her sword, which she had just used to cut the portal, and determined, "We should be in roughly the same place we portalled to last time. Now, which way did we go?"

But in the never ending expanse of blue surrounding them on either side, it was impossible to orient themselves.

After a while of thinking, Marco finally suggested, "I think we went down, since I remember seeing the sea floor. Plus, there might be landmarks on the sea floor that we can follow."

"Right, but which way is down?" Star asked.

"That's… a really good question," said Skylar.

After some more deliberation, Amalia was eventually the one to find the solution. She pushed her sword out of her bubble, and it began to rise—no, it was actually sinking, which meant that Amalia's up was actually down….

"Follow the sword!" Amalia shouted, reorienting herself and swimming after it. Skylar, Star, Marco, and Sally dove after her.

The sword finally found the sand, kicking up a plume of it into the water as it settled to the bottom.

"Then… didn't we swim through a kelp forest?" Star remembered.

"Yep." Amalia frowned. "But I don't see it."

"Wait!" Skylar interjected. "I think I see a little speck of green over there!" She pointed, and when Amalia looked in that direction, she thought she might have seen the same thing. Or maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. Either way, Amalia couldn't help but swim toward it, hope blossoming inside of her. She followed the rest of the path naturally, as if she had swum it a hundred times. But when she got there, there was nothing.

Just a huge crater in the sea floor that Cressa's house had once occupied.

She swam down to it in search of something, anything, but there was nothing but sand.

"It's gone," she breathed.

"Wait, are we sure it was here?" Skylar asked.

After a moment of thought, Sally, Amalia, Marco, and Star all nodded.

"Okay, just making sure. So… now what?"

Amalia sighed. "Now, we go back."

* * *

Back at the Diazes' house, Amalia and Skylar sat on Amalia's bed, while Marco and Star took the other.

"It's too bad we can't see Cressa," Star sighed. "It would've been really fun to see each other again."

"Yeah," Skylar agreed. She was more disappointed than the rest of them—Crescenta had pretty much been her first friend, and Skylar hadn't seen her since King Gibbouso had died months ago.

"Of course I miss her just as much as you do," Amalia added, "but I _was_ really hoping we could ask her about the Blood Moon. It's just… I don't really know what to think about it all."

"Yeah, tell me about it!" agreed Marco. "I've never danced with two girls before—much less under the light of a moon that—what does it do exactly?"

Skylar responded, "I don't think this is technically correct, but I heard that it supposedly destined the two who dance under to become a couple."

"So what does that mean for the three of us?" Marco wondered.

"No idea. That's why we should probably try to figure out a way to contact Cressa."

"Hmm… maybe I can find some sort of tracking spell," Star thought aloud, bending over to look under her bed. She pulled out her giant book of spells and began flipping through it.

Meanwhile, Skylar began curiously looking through the things on Amalia bed. She found a bunch of stuffed wyverns, forgotten books, and other Amalia stuff, but then she found an arrow. It only had the fletching, but no arrowhead. The shaft was short and jagged on the end, like the other half had been snapped off. After a moment, her eyes widened in recognition.

"Wait! I think I found something!" Star shouted. "It's a tracking spell! You just need something that belonged to the person we're looking for."  
"But we don't have anything of Crescenta's, do we?" Marco lamented.

"Actually…" Skylar said slowly, holding up the half-arrow. "I think we do."

Amalia saw it first. "Oh, right! Cressa's arrow! Star, do you still have the other half?"

Star pulled the other half of the arrow out of her bed, which had the arrowhead on it. "Yep! Right here!"

"I should be able to put the arrow back together. Here, let me have it."

Star handed over her half of the arrow. Amalia put both of them on the floor and aimed her sword at it. She muttered something unintelligible, and the two halves rose into the air and spun around until they became a blur. When they stopped spinning, the arrow was whole.

"Perfect!" Star said happily. "Now… the spell says to use the person's name, then the word 'tracking,' then the object, then the word 'spell.' So…" Star pointed her wand at the arrow, which had now fallen back onto the floor, and shouted, " _Cressa-Tracking Arrow Spell!_ "

The arrow rose into the air once more, spun a few times like a compass needle, then shot off toward the wall. Everyone began to chase after it as it zipped around the room. Then Star grabbed a hold of the arrow just as it cut a portal for itself and flew into it, dragging Star along with it. Star just barely managed to shout, "Hold on to me!" before getting pulled in. At the last possible moment, she felt Marco's hand grab her arm. Then Amalia and Sylph grabbed onto Marco, and Skylar latched onto Amalia, and they all tumbled into a portal.

Amalia was surprised to find herself in what looked like Draclord. She was barely able to identify it as a Dianarian city with its sleek, tall white buildings before the arrow began pulling on them again. They raced along the street for about a minute until the arrow abruptly changed its angle, rocketting them into the air at about a sixty-degree angle to the ground. Screaming, they all tumbled into the sixth-floor open window of an apartment building, onto a carpeted floor. They rolled until they crashed into a coffee table, snapping one of the legs and breaking most of the glassware that had been set atop it. And looking down at them in surprise was ex-Princess Crescenta Luna.

"What was that?" a female voice called from another room.

"Oh, it's just Amalia, Skylar, and… some other friends. I think they're here for the Tribunal," Crescenta called back, albeit rather quietly. Then she turned on the four teenagers who had just fallen into her living room. "You _are_ here for the Tribunal, right?" she asked.

"What Tribunal?" Amalia wondered.

But Skylar gasped. "The Tribunal! I completely forgot that was today!"

Amalia now turned on Skylar. " _What_ Tribunal?"

"I thought someone was supposed to tell her about the Tribunal," Crescenta said. "She could even be testifying!"

Skylar released a sigh of frustration. "I was supposed to tell her about the Tribunal at the Blood Moon Ball!"

Amalia started to grow concerned. "Skylar. What's the Tribunal about?"

Skylar spoke to the floor, not willing to meet Amalia's eyes. "That's what was in the letter—"

"I thought you told me that the letter just said how you wanted to be friends again!"

"Yeah, and you said that you 'needed more time,' or something." Skylar sounded hurt.

"Well it's not helping that you're _lying_ to me!"

"I'm not lying, it's just… the note did talk about how I still wanted to be friends, but it also talked about _this_."

"What is ' _this_ '? Tell me what's going on here!"

"I… I think it would be best if you heard it from Opa."

Amalia's face turned red from anger. "I don't care what that b*tch Opa _line_ says, or does, or thinks!"

Ironically, only Crescenta's tiny, whispered comment was able to bring her out of her rage: "Kyla's right."

Amalia deflated at that.

In the silence that followed, Skylar turned to Crescenta. "I've missed you so much, Cressa." She tackled the former Moon Princess in a hug, and they held each other tightly for a while, whispering to each other too quietly for Amalia to hear. After a long time, they finally pulled apart.

"Where were you?' Skylar whispered through tears.

"All over," Cressa replied. "Jungles, deserts, some place called Mewni, even underneath the ocean."  
Star excitedly, drew a breath, probably about to mention that she used to live in Mewni, but Amalia elbowed her, not wanting her to spoil the touching moment.

"Amalia said she saw you. Why didn't you visit me?" Skylar continued softly.

"That was a bit of an accident. They found me when they were exploring, and a Pink-Spotted Shark attacked us, so they portalled me out and took me back to Marco's house. My mom forbade me from seeing any of you—she was furious when she found out I was with Amalia. But I'm so glad to see you now. I promise I would have visited if I could."  
Skylar wiped her eyes. "I know."

Silence ensued, which Star eventually broke: "So, um, we actually had something to ask you about, Cressa."

Crescenta cringed slightly at the name but covered it with a smile. "I can try to help."

"It's about the Blood Moon," Marco explained. "Would you know about that?"

"I know many things about the Moon, including the Blood Moon. What do you wish to know?"

When no one responded, Amalia finally said, "Well, Star got invited to the Blood Moon Ball by her ex-boyfriend, so we all went, but when the light of the Blood Moon started shining through the skylight, it was like… like I was in a trance. I felt like I _had_ to go see where the light was coming from. Then I found Star and Marco there in the middle with me, and Sylph told us we had to do the Blood Moon Tri-Waltz—"

Crescenta let out an uncharacteristic snort. "The Blood Moon Tri-Waltz is a myth. No three people have ever danced under the Blood Moon's light before—at least, not in recorded history. Really, very little is known about the Blood Moon, since there's only been five of them in all of recorded Draclan history, including the one yesterday."  
Sylph crossed her arms, offended. "Then how do you explain Marco, Star, and Amalia all dancing under the Blood Moon together?"  
"That's never happened before because the Blood Moon only ever chooses two souls, which are then led to the skylight to dance beneath it, in that sort of 'trance' you mentioned, Amalia.

Did all three of you feel this trance?"

Star and Amalia nodded, but Marco said, "Um, no, actually."

Crescenta stood in thought for a moment, murmuring to herself, before she finally asked Marco, "Then why did you go into the light?"

"Star dragged me into it, and that's where we found Amalia."

"So that means…" Crescenta began, "that the Blood Moon chose Star and Amalia, and Marco simply interfered."

"Wait!" Star exclaimed. "You're saying the Blood Moon bonded _me_ and _Amalia_ together?"

"Well, yes, it _chose_ you two to be bonded." Crescenta replied calmly.

"Wait," Amalia added, "so does that mean that Star and I are destined to be… you know…"

Both girls blushed, and a weird feeling churned in Amalia's gut. It definitely wasn't disgust; it was just, well… she'd never really considered it that way before. Star seemed to be having the same feelings.

But Crescenta was shaking her head. "No, that's _also_ a myth, that the two people bonded by the Blood Moon are destined to be 'romantically intertwined.' It _is_ usually a romantic bond, but it isn't always romantic. For example, 1334 years ago, two Cornball players from Mewni danced under the Light, and from then on they were destined to be Cornball teammates for life. Besides, Marco altered all of that by dancing with you."

"Wait, Marco interrupted, "wasn't Sylph also under the light of the Blood Moon?"

"Yes, but, as a spirit, I don't have a soul. Not like you do, at least," Sylph explained. "The Blood Moon doesn't affect me. Plus, I wasn't dancing."

"Although, you did interfere with the Blood Moon by encouraging them to all dance together," Crescenta reminded her.

"Oh, whatever," Sylph harrumphed.

"So… what's actually going on, then?" Skylar wondered.

Crescenta thought in silence for a moment. Just as it began to feel awkward, she finally said, "Microchemistry has a good example. Everything that exists in the multiverse is made up of microscopic particles called atoms. An atom has a nucleus that contains most of its mass, but there are even smaller particles called electrons that circle the atom. However, it is impossible to pinpoint the location of an electron because it moves so fast that it is actually everywhere around the atom at once. In two or more places at the same time.

"But two atoms can combine—to form a compound like water, or mythril. When they do, one or more of the electrons breaks off and starts circling around both nuclei, like in a figure-eight. This electron holds them together, since it surrounds both of them, everywhere at once. But three atoms can never engage in one bond. There can be multiple bonds between more than two molecules, but three atoms cannot all share one electron. That can all be applied to the Blood Moon Bond. So, under logical circumstances, Star and Marco would be bonded, and Marco and Amalia, and Amalia and Star, in three different bonds. But I suspect that this situation may fall into the realm of illogic.

"This is all hypothetical from here on out, but remember how I said that electrons travel so quickly that they are in many places at once? Imagine that the electron is circling two atoms, but it is moving so fast that it is actually circling a third atom at the same time. In other words, there is only one bond, but it is in two places at once, linking the first and second atom, and the first and third atom, at the same time. Now, imagine that same one bond in three places, linking each of the three atoms to the two others, so that now the second atom is also linked to the third one. That completes the cycle so that the atoms are all bonded to each other.

"In this situation, Marco, Star, and Amalia are the three nuclei of the three atroms, and the Blood Moon Bond is an electron circling them, bonding them together. Normally, the Bond would circle the two people who danced under the Light, forming a single bond in one place. But since three of you danced under the Light, the Blood Moon figured out a way to make one bond, moving so fast that it is in three places at once, connecting the three of you to each other."

Marco, Amalia, Star, and Skylar took a minute to let all that settle in. Finally, Amalia asked, "So, what exactly does that mean for us?"  
"It means that your souls are linked to each other's; they are connected and will not be able to drift apart. Any more than that, no one but the Blood Moon itself knows."

The ominous mood was broken by Crescenta's mom—former Queen Satellia Luna—opening the door and walking into the room. Her skin was a deep olive color, which contrasted sharply against the cascade of golden hair that flowed over her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes were stormy gray. Right now they were alight with enthusiasm, but behind them was a weariness of experience and troubling times. She wore a flowing strapless dress the same gold color as her hair. The fabric twirled and ruffled as it fell down to her waist, where a flared skirt fanned out to rest in a circle that skimmed the ground beneath her golden-heeled feet. The whole look was a bit overdone, though Amalia suspected that the former Queen was indulging herself after living for months in nearly-inhabitable places with less-than-royal clothing.

She was calling out, in a voice soft and smooth as a feather, "Crescenta, dear, I…." But she trailed off when she noticed the four extra people in the room, especially Star and Marco. "Who are _they_?"

Crescenta stepped in front of them. "You know Skylar and Amalia, and the others are Amalia's new friends: Star, Princess of Mewni and Marco… erm, Resident of Earth."

Satellia Luna directed her gaze toward Marco. "Ah… I am not very familiar with Earth or their political systems. Is a Resident a high-ranking position?"

Marco nodded smugly. "One of the highest, if I do say so myself."

"And I suppose you're all here for the Tribunal, then?"

"Um, yeah I guess so," replied Amalia.

"Then I… _suppose_ you four can stay here until the Tribunal. I'm going early to make some… arrangements. I will see you there, Crescenta." She spun, causing her ruffled skirt to twirl, and strode out the door.

"Does you mother always act that… strange?" Skylar whispered to Crescenta.

"Strange, yes," Crescenta replied. "But not like that."

"It's just… I've been wondering, after avoiding Draclord for so long, why is she suddenly willing—excited, even—to come back for nothing more than a Tribunal?"

"I have been wondering the same thing myself." Crescenta shrugged. "Ever since… since we left Draclord, she has seemed… lost. We have been back in Draclord for three days now, and since we got here, that lostness has gone away. Like she has a purpose again. I just have no idea what that purpose could be."

"Probably something to do with the Tribunal," Skylar supplied.

"Right, when does that start?" Amalia asked.

"It starts in just over an hour, and it is being held in Bahamut," Cressa told her. "We should probably leave soon to meet up with Opa."

Skylar and Amalia shared a look.

"Oh, right…" Cressa sighed. "We should still see her, though. She can tell Amalia what's going on."

"Yeah, we'll have to go through Gemnia to get to Bahamut anyway," Skylar added. "Let me call her."

She pulled out her compact and walked into another room. Amalia cringed, hearing a lot of screaming coming from the other line. She couldn't help but wonder if Skylar regretted staying the night with her. But when Skylar returned, she looked okay, although her hair wasn't crackling with quite as much energy as before.

"Opa says she's already in Bahamut. She said she'll meet us in the Grand Plaza. And, Amalia? Can you promise me you'll try to keep an open mind?"

Skylar held Amalia's gaze, giving her no choice but to sigh and say, "I'll _try_."

"But how are we going to get there?" Marco asked. We don't have any wyverns or anything…"

Amalia held up her sword. "No, but we can get one."

"Oh, right. Portals."

"You'd better come too, Cressa," Skylar added. "I don't think we'll be able to take Ratha into the city."  
So Amalia cut open a portal, and the five friends walked through into the Diaz backyard. They had just untethered Ratha when Judge Magister Gabranth rushed outside. "Princess Amalia! I've been looking everywhere, trying to to tell you about the upcoming Tribunal!"

Amalia turned to him. "Oh yeah, Cressa and Kylar told me. We were just getting Ratha to fly us there."  
"Very well. I must be there early, so I will see you then."  
"Okay!"

Gabranth turned on the spot and disappeared.

"Whoa, how did he disappear like that?" Star asked in amazement.

"He used a special device called a Beamer that teleports him straight to Bahumat, bypassing the security force fields that keep normal dimension-hoppers out. They're given out very sparingly and guarded closely. Even then, the Queen can disable them in times of crisis."

"But why don't you have one? You're the princess, after all."

"Well, like I said, they're guarded _very_ closely, but with my going to school and everything, it would be all too easy for it to fall into the hands of some unexpecting Earthling, so we decided it would be best if I didn't take it to Earth. Plus, I'm supposed to stay on Earth, so I'm not _really_ supposed to be going back to Draclord at all."

"But you'll be allowed back for the Tribunal, right?"

"Yeah, all the royals are required to be there, and my banishment to Earth is more of a parenting thing than a legal thing. Now let's get going!"  
But something had caught Star's eye. "Wait… can we take Sora and Jecht with us?"  
Amalis frowned. "They're babies, so I don't think you can fly on them, and even if you could, they would be way slower than Ratha."

"But they can fly along with us, right?" Star pleaded. "Please?"

"Yeah, and they would get to see where they came from," Marco added.

Amalia sighed. "I don't see why not. Now come on, let's get on Ratha!"

They all mounted the Rathalos, and Star and Marco beckoned their baby wyverns to either side, Jecht on the left and Sora on the right.

"Cressa?" Skylar prompted.

Crescenta unslung her bow, withdrew an arrow headed with purple flames, and shot it straight out, ripping open a vast hole in space large enough for Ratha to fly through easily. Ratha tucked his wings and began to run, shaking the ground as his legs pounded into it, faster and faster until he leapt into the sky and opened his wings, trailed by Sora and Jecht. He beat his wings once, twice, and then they were engulfed by blackness.

* * *

 _Somewhere in the Realm of the Sword, Draclord_

They were suddenly high above the ground, racing through the cold, crisp air, Amalia's hair whipping behind her in the wind. The ground was far, far below them, just a blur of color, and she could feel the moisture as they skimmed the clouds above them. Sora and Jecht yapped happily as they dove, twisted, and spiraled around them. Ratha kept on plodding forward through the sky, snorting in annoyance every time Sora or Jecht flew in front of his face.

Eventually, a city came into view below in the distance. Ratha swooped down right in front of the gleaming golden gates of the bustling town. The five dismounted Ratha, and Star and Marco coaxed the elder dragons to the ground, since they were still flying around in circles happily. On the bright side, they seemed to be getting along better now.

Once they had their wyvern and elder dragons calmed down, they approached the gate, in front of which stood two guards that Amalia didn't recognize. One had icy blue hair, while the other's was vibrant orange. They opened the gates, and the orange one said reverently, "Princess Amalia, Princess Skylar, Princess Crescenta, you may pass.'  
They walked through with Ratha, but before Star and Marco could lead their elder dragons through, the ice-blue-haired one stepped in front of them.

"No, they're with us!" Amalia assured the guards.

But the blue-haired one was having none of it. "Even so, Princess Amalia, these two teenagers are in possession of a young Kushala Doara and Valstrax. The same species as the eggs that were reportedly stolen a few weeks ago. They must be taken into custody and questioned."

"Oh…" Amalia was at a loss for words. They had found the eggs on the way back from battling an adult Valstrax, and Amalia hadn't known they were being monitored, so she had let Star and Marco keep them. Ishtar had mentioned something about the missing eggs a while ago, but Amalia had forgotten completely. "I vouch for them," Amalia tried.

The orange-haired guard looked ready to cave, but the other guard cut him off. "If I remember correctly, you were banished from the dimension just after your fourteenth birthday."  
"It's more of a grounding than a banishment," Amalia complained.

"Either way, I think Okita Dalmasca should have the final word on this. I will be taking them."

Amalia sighed. She knew that her mom would pardon them immediately, but she had no way of saving Star and Marco from being arrested. And the guards wouldn't bother the Queen so close to the Tribunal, so Star and Marco would probably be stuck with security until after it ended. Which, yeah, that would suck for them, but…

That meant Amalia would be stuck all alone with all of her old friends, including Opaline, for a _whole hour_.

Star smiled to Amalia, even as she was being handcuffed and led away. "We'll be fine, Amalia! Go rock that Tribunal thing!"

Marco looked more sympathetic, as if he understood Amalia's situation. "Good luck," he mouthed, before the blue-haired guard beamed them away, leaving his companion to guard the gate.

"Wow, he has a Beamer?" Skylar said.

Amalia frowned. "I'm surprised, too. Now, where are we?"

She looked at the city around them. They seemed to be in a marketplace with stores of every color lining both sides of the walkway, each seemingly trying to compete to be the brightest and most inviting at the same time, which resulted in a bizarre arrangement of colors and decorations. Draconoids bustled up, down, and across the street in every direction, and Amalia had to grab Skylar's and Crescenta's hands to keep from being separated.

"New Rabanastre" Amalia breathed. It was a commoner suburb of New Archadia, so Amalia hadn't gone there often—maybe one or twice when she was little—but she remembered it vaguely. In fact, it was one of the few Bahamese cities she hadn't really visited, probably because it wasn't exactly the kind of place you would usually find royalty.

Then a thought crossed her mind—if this was a commoner town, what in Bahumat's name was _Opaline Bijou_ doing here?

They pushed their way through the crowd, with Crescenta muttering "Sorry!" to everyone they bumped into.

The road finally opened up into a square, and now Amalia knew why it was called the Great Plaza. It was at least 200 yards across, in both directions. Velvet awnings stretched out from the stores lining the outside of the square, casting shade onto the shoppers—these stores were clearly more expensive than the ones they had seen earlier. There was a park in the middle with patches of grass in every color of the rainbow, lined with colorful trees and benches. And standing in the middle of the park, staring straight at them, was Princess Opaline Bijou. Crescenta ran forward, surprising both Skylar and Amalia. Skylar shrugged and raced to catch up with her, and at that point, Amalia had no choice but to follow. Opaline came forward to meet Crescenta, who enveloped her in a hug. It went surprisingly similarly to Crescenta's reunion with Skylar—which made Amalia scowl—although there wasn't any whispering this time.

When the hug finally broke up, Opa looked to Skylar first. "Hey, Kylar." Then she inevitably turned to Amalia, although Amalia noticed that Opaline seemed to be dreading the confrontation just as much as—if not more than—Amalia did. Finally, she waved a little, and, not quite meeting Amalia's eyes, said, "H-hi, Mali."

Amalia flinched at the nickname and just looked back at her tersely. But as she looked her former friend over, she frowned.

Opaline had replaced her usual glittery gown with a pearl-white traditional Draclan _cochaka_ —a long-sleeved, hooded dress—with her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her diamond earrings and makeup were absent, and most surprising of all, Amalia couldn't spy a single jewel, gem, or other rare mineral on her.

She looked… different.

Younger.

Or maybe that was just Amalia's mind playing tricks on her, because this was more like how she had looked like back when they were still friends.

Of course, Amalia commented on it, but she couldn't keep the sharpness out of her voice when she said, "What, are you gonna wear that to the Tribunal? And what are you doing _here_ , in a commoners' town?"  
Opaline let out a snort. "If it's too _low_ for your standards, Amalia, you can just leave." But after a pointed look from Skylar, she sighed wearily. "I'm just trying to blend in for a while. Let go of the stress, just do _normal_ things for once." Amalia was about demand who this girl was and what she had done with Opaline Bijou when she added, "And no, I'm not wearing this to the Tribunal, of course. I have my outfit saved to my spear. After all, I could be Queen in just a few days."  
"Wait, WHAT?"

Opaline sighed again, looking down at her non-heeled feet. "I'll tell you… just give it a while."

Then Amalia realized something else important in what Opaline had said. See, the Princesses couldn't use magic to make an outfit suddenly appear out of nowhere, but if they had an outfit, they could save it to their magical weapon so that they could conjure it up later. Opaline had apparently done that, and Amalia suspected that Crescenta and Skylar had, too, but Amalia certainly hadn't, and she was still wearing her casual clothes.

Opaline grinned slyly. "Don't tell me you forgot to bring a dress for the Tribunal."

Skylar saved Amalia from answering. "Oh, that's perfect! While we're here, we can shop for Amalia's dress!"

Opaline opened her mouth to say something, but then she seemed to change her mind. "Yeah, sure. No better way to spend bonding time than shopping!"

 _Bonding time_? Was Opaline _actually_ trying to be nice? She was even doing pretty okay at it. But why? Was it all an act? What was she planning? Did it have something to do with the upcoming Tribunal? What was the Tribunal about, anyway, and why would no one tell her what it was for?

Skylar caught her eye and mouthed, "Open mind, remember?"

Amalia sighed again, now addressing Opaline. "Um… yeah, shopping will be fun, I guess."

The two girls stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, then Skylar grabbed both of them and dragged them into the nearest store.

Inside there were accessories galore, from earrings to bracelets to sun hats. Skylar took the nearest hat—a flowery pink one with a wide brim—and put it on, posing. Everyone giggled a bit at that, and soon they were all trying on the most ridiculous hats they could find. The winner was definitely Crescenta, who they found tottering under a tower of at least ten hats. Then she stepped on Skylar's discarded floral hat and slipped, sending her and all the hats tumbling down in a massive pile. Everyone burst out in laughter, and for a moment, it felt like they were all friends again, like before.

"Everyone in favor of Cressa winning the prize for the craziest hat?" Skylar asked.

They all raised their hands, except Crescenta, who blushed.

They spent the next several minutes putting back the hats. By the time they were done, Skylar looked outside and realized, "We only have a half an hour until the Tribunal starts! We should get Amalia's dress!"

They all nodded. Skylar, being the Princess of the Weather, could tell the time just by looking at the sun.

They all turned to leave, but first Opaline said, "Wait! Take a look at these!"

They were gold earrings, from each of which dangled a tiny emerald Rathalos.

Opaline closed one eye and held them up in front of Amalia. "Yes! These would look _perfect_ on you, Amalia! Do you like them?"

They reminded her of the earring that had gotten crushed under Jackie's skateboard, and she really did like them. "Yeah… they're cool! Thanks, Opa—"

She frowned as she said her friend's nickname. It had just slipped out, and now she wanted to take it back, but it also felt… right.

Opaline smiled up at Amalia shyly—if that word could _ever_ describe the Princess of Gemstones, it did now. "I'll go buy them for you, Amalia. You three go on ahead."

Now Opaline was _buying things for her_? How crazy could this get?

Then again, Opaline had always been very generous back when they were friends…

Amalia, Crescenta, and Skylar exited the shop and headed down the line of storefronts. Tentatively, Skylar asked, "So… thoughts?"

Amalia knew what she was talking about. At this point, she was willing to bet that Skylar had set this up to try to get Amalia and Opaline to be friends again. Quite honestly, Amalia wasn't sure whether it was working or not.

Amalia considered her response for a while before finally saying, "Opaline's been acting… weird."

"Weird how?"

Amalia just shrugged.

Skylar looked to Crescenta. "Give it time," the red-haired princess said simply.

They entered a shop called Ladies' Fine Dresses and Formal Wear, finding themselves surrounded by gowns everywhere—hung on the walls and stacked on top of each other, smothering racks upons racks covering the floor and leaving only a few narrow aisles. Ruffles and lace and trains and frills and toile jumped out at her from every direction, in every color and design imaginable, brushing the top of her head, tangling in her arms, and tripping her feet.

"Wow, this place is a mess!" Amalia complained.

"Yeah, but if there's any perfect dress for you in all of Draclord, it'll have to be in here!" Skylar countered.

"But where do I start?" Amalia wondered.

Skylar grabbed a spring-green dress at random. "Try this one."

Crescenta frowned when she came out of the changing room with the dress on. "Green is not your color."

She tried a red one, but Skylar said the color clashed with her hair.

An orange one was too flashy.

A blue one was too simple.

A yellow one was too bright.

A gray one was too gloomy.

She finally returned in a white dress, but her friends frowned and said in unison, "It looks like you're getting married."

Amalia let out a frustrated sigh. "Can you stop telling me what _won't_ work and just tell me what _will_ work?"

"I dunno, I'm no good at this kind of stuff." Skylar shrugged. "I can't tell if it'll look good on you or not until you put it on."

"Opa's always been the best with these kinds of things," Crescenta added.

"Yeah, what's taking her so long, anyway?"

As if on cue, the bell on the door jangled, and Opaline walked in, stumbling under the weight of several bags and boxes. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away, and—" Her eyes settled on Amalia, and Opaline frowned. "Dress problems?"

"Yeah," all three girls replied.

Opaline narrowed her eyes at Amalia for a moment as if analyzing her. Then she dashed around the store, tossing dresses on top of her already large pile of merchandise. Then, she grabbed Amalia's arm and dragged her into the dressing room, although she could have sworn she saw Skylar give her a wink—or maybe it was meant for Opaline.

Once inside the dressing room, Opaline started unpacking the bags and boxes she had carried in, rambling to Amalia, "Like I said, I got a bit carried away—I was on the way to the register to buy your earrings, but then I saw a necklace that would go _perfectly_ with it—then I remembered you were wearing your fighting boots, so I figured I should get you some heels—and then I remembered you'd need leggings to go with your dress, so I went to another store…"

Opaline began to put all the accessories on Amalia as she talked—except the leggings, of course. Soon enough, she was covered in more jewelry than she'd ever worn before, but still with no dress.

But as Opaline began holding dresses up to her, Amalia had to address the awkwardness. "Why are you acting so…"

Amalia searched for a word, but Opaline nodded, apparently understanding. She took a deep breath and tossed her silvery white hair out of her face before finally saying, "I… I have something that I need—I've been meaning—to tell you that…"

Opaline sighed. "I few months ago, I started being a jerk toward you. And… I get why you didn't want to be friends with me before. But there was a _reason_.

"My mom is affected by some curse or disease or… I don't know. No one knows. That's the problem. It spreads almost instantaneously to everyone in the room with her, so I can't visit her… not that it really matters anyway, since she hasn't woken up for about two weeks now. They say she only as a few days left…"

Amalia was dumbfounded. "I… I'm so sorry, Opaline."

"Save it. I've heard it all already."

Amalia didn't know what to say to that.

"It's not just my mom… well, yeah, it's my mom, but it's also the fact that I might be Queen in a matter of days. It's just… a lot to handle. A lot to live up to. A whole other persona to take on, objective and sometimes unforgiving. A whole _Realm_ to rule, for Draclord's sake!"

Opaline looked up, her deep purple eyes locking with Amalia's gold ones. "To be honest, it was hard for me that you just thought everything was _fine_ , while I was dealing with losing my mother and trying to live up to my role as the new Queen." Her quiet tone grew into a bit of a shout, but her words conveyed more hurt than anger. "You never ASKED, Amalia! Kylar and Cressa both ASKED, but you never did. Never so much as a 'What's wrong?' or an 'Are you okay?' Didn't you wonder WHY I suddenly started acting differently? No. _You didn't care._ "

Before Amalia could respond, Opaline surged on. "You started to hate me—don't deny it—so, to make myself feel better, I started to hate you back. And we've just gone on hating each other for months now. But I finally realized that my hating you was pushing Kylar away. She made a good point… she said that if one of us is brave enough to stop hating and break the cycle, maybe we could be friends again. So I'm trying to be nice again, but if you don't think this is going to work, just tell me now and I'm completely fine with going back to hating each other."

She sounded serious, which at least assured Amalia that Opaline was still herself. In the silence that followed, Opaline began brushing Amalia's long dark-blue hair.

 _Brush._

 _Brush._

 _Brush._

Finally, Amalia drew a shaky breath. "No, I don't want to hate you. I just… I can't believe I never realized… that it was my fault… all this time."

 _Brush._

 _Brush._

 _Brush._

"It wasn't your fault," Opaline said brusquely, accompanied by a rather sharp tug on the brush in Amalia's hair. "It's the curse's fault. _Everything_ is the curse's fault."

 _Brush._

 _Brush._

"I used to blame you," Opaline continued. "It's easiest to blame it all on a person. A person is easier to hate. You can wish all the suffering you're feeling onto them and feel like someone is sharing in your misery. But in my heart, I knew you were never to blame. Kylar made a good point—the only thing to blame for my mom, for my situation, is the curse or disease or… whatever it is that's affecting my mom. But it's time to let go of my anger, anyway. It's time to step up and be a leader. That is, if I somehow manage to win over the Tribunal." She sighed. "Even if Kylar is able to convince her parents, it's still pretty much hopeless."

Opaline had stopped brushing now and was sticking in pins and plaiting and who-knew-what, but Amalia wasn't paying much attention to it—she had learned to never doubt Opaline's fashion sense. "Um… so, what exactly is the Tribunal about?" Amalia had to ask.

"Oh… you don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"If the current Queen dies, steps down, or is otherwise unable to lead, then the heir—the oldest living daughter of the queen—usually takes her place and becomes the Queen if she is over eighteen. However, if the heir is under fifteen—like Cressa—then the throne goes to the next in line who is over fifteen. But if the heir is between fifteen and eighteen, then a Tribunal is held, and they vote on whether to name the heir Queen or to move on to the next-in-line."

Now that she said it, the policy did sound familiar—Amalia just had never paid much attention to it, not wanting to think about what would happen if her mom died.

"In my case," Opaline continued, "the next-in-line is my mom's brother, Luster Bijou. He would ideally be skipped in favor of matriarch, but he's the only living relative who's over eighteen and is qualified for the position as King."

"Right, isn't that how Cressa's dad came to rule? He was male, but he was the only one in line, so the crown went to him."

"Right." Opaline stepped back and looked at Amalia's hair. "That looks great! Want to try on the dresses?"

"Oh, sure." Amalia had almost forgotten that she was supposed to be trying on dresses.

Opaline handed Amalia a pale yellow dress and turned around.

Amalia put on the dress and the gray leggings Opaline had bought for her, discarding her long-sleeved shirt, leather vest, and baggy pants. She turned to look at herself in the mirror, but Opaline blocked her view and led her back to the corner. "Hey, no peeking until I'm done with the final product!"

Amalia shrugged. Opaline began to circle around her, fluffing here, patting down there.

"Um… so, the Tribunal?" Amalia prompted.

"Oh, right. Basically, the Tribune has to decide whether to crown me or Prince Luster. A three-to-five majority decides it."

"But… if you're having trouble with all the stress, why don't you just step down and let Prince Luster take your place?"  
Opaline frowned. "Trust me, it's tempting. But Prince Luster is… volatile. He and my mom never agreed on political matters, and he ran away from home when he was sixteen. A few years later, he married one of the most powerful Memory-Wipers known to Draclord, Lady Cloya Gold. He's developed a very… radical political structure. I don't know for sure whether that's a bad or a good thing, but I do know that, after what has happened to my mother, what the kingdom will need is stability and familiarity. I feel like I could ensure that if I just follow in my mother's footsteps. But under Prince Luster… the kingdom would be in turmoil for a long time."  
"Well, I'm sure you could get the votes. I mean, you're friends with all the Princesses!"

Opaline frowned as if dissatisfied, although Amalia wasn't sure whether she was frowning at the dress or at Amalia's statement. "Not if you think about it. Palmero and I aren't exactly friends, and Coastland is devoutly patriarchal, so I'm sure King Oceano will vote in my uncle's favor. As for Dianaria, I doubt Queen Umbra would actually consider anything Cressa or former Queen Satellia said."  
"Queen Umbra?"

"Right, I forget that you have no idea what's been going on in Draclord. Queen Umbra was one of King Gibbouso's cousins. She wasn't old enough to take the throne when he did, but when he died, she was the next in line, since Cressa was only fourteen back then. Dianaria has been in turmoil ever since she took over, and it's spreading throughout the Realm of the Bow by the day. She had a very similar mindset to my uncle's; in fact, I'm afraid that what happened in Dianara will happen in Gemnia if my uncle takes over. Anyway, I can probably count on Dianaria as a vote for Prince Luster. And as for Bahamut, well, your mom hasn't thought very highly of me since we stopped being friends. Not to mention I'm fifteen, and they wouldn't be wrong if they think that I don't know what I'm doing."

"What if I can convince them?"

Opaline shrugged. "The only vote I can truly count on is my dad's—by law, if the Queen hands off the crown, her spouse poses as regent and decides the vote for the Realm of the Spear until the coronation of the new monarch."

Amalia couldn't help but notice how she used the gender-neutral "monarch" instead of "Queen." She really was pretty unsure about this.

Opaline continued, "My dad and I have talked it over, and we both think it's best if I step up and become Queen, so I know he'll vote for me. But that's only one vote."

"What about Meterolia?"

"Skylar's been working on her parents, but I think her mom is still in favor of Prince Luster. She thinks I'm too young to handle a kingdom. To be honest, I kind of am too young, but I don't have much of a choice."

"Wait, I still don't get something… if they know what Prince Luster is going to do to Gemnia, and potentially the entire Spear Realm, then why are they still voting for him over you?"

Opaline sighed wearily. "It's the same problem the Tribune has always had. Do you really think the other kingdoms care for the well-being of Gemnia? Even if they don't _actively_ want to see Gemnia fall into chaos, they won't mind turning a blind eye and reaping the benefits. And I know some even think I'll do a worse job than him."

Amalia met the Gemstone Princess's deep purple eyes. "I _know_ you'll do a good job, Opa. I believe in you."

Opaline snorted. "Funny thing to say for someone who vehemently hated me until about ten minutes ago." But Amalia could see her hiding a smile. "Anyway, this dress is _so_ not working." She rifled through the other dresses, tossing each aside with a "No…" until she held up a coral-colored dress. "This is _perfect_!"

Amalia frowned. "Really, pink?"

Opaline rolled her eyes. "It's not pink, it's _coral_. And what's wrong with pink anyway? It's a nice color."

"Yeah, but it also screams 'Girly-girl!'"

"And that mindset only strengthens the stereotype. C'mon, just try it on."

Amalia reluctantly put the dress on. Opaline's face lit up when she saw Amalia in it. She made a few adjustments, then covered Amalia's eyes and led her to the mirror. When she removed her hands, Amalia gasped. She was wearing the coral gown, which hung off one shoulder and traced her body down to the ground, where the fabric just brushed the floor. It was elegant, but bold; sleek, but stunning; and simple, but elaborate. It was perfect.

Her hair was braided over her right shoulder, where it tickled the exposed skin and fell down to her hips, the blond highlight woven into it. The jeweled necklace, emerald wyvern earrings, and platform shoes completed the look.

"Whoa…" she breathed.

Opaline playfully nudged Amalia with her elbow. "I have my uses."

"What about your dress?"

"Oh, right." She held her spear in front of her and spun, becoming a blur of color. When she stopped spinning, she stood in a puffy white dress with short fluffy sleeves, dotted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other gems Amalia didn't recognize, in all different colors of the rainbow.

Amalia smirked. "It definitely reminds me of you."

"That bad, huh?"

It took a moment for Amalia to understand her meaning. Then she realized what she had meant. "Aw, don't say that. We're past that now."

Opaline met Amalia's eyes apprehensively. "Are we?"

Amalia gave her reconciled friend her most convincing smile. "Yeah. We are."

Opaline shyly smiled back.

Now all that remained was the hardest part—for neither of them to mess it all up again.

* * *

When they left the changing room, Skylar and Cressa were already waiting for them in their dresses. Skylar had brushed her hair and let it fan out over her back, and wore a slim, sunny yellow dress that seemed to make the whole room brighter. Crescenta's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a simple pale-red tunic that reminded Amalia vaguely of the Blood Moon. She wondered for a moment why Crescenta's dress was so plain, but then she remembered that Crescenta wasn't a princess anymore.

It almost felt like everything should be how it was… back then.

Opaline paid for the dress before Amalia could, and they left the store. They found Ratha where they had left him by the gates. Amalia was ready to have a word with the blue-haired guard, but he still wasn't back yet—instead, he had been replaced by a red-haired one, who bade them good luck at the Tribunal. Trying not to ruin their dresses, they mounted the Rathalos. Amalia told him to find the Bahamut Tribunal Hall, and he took off, soaring into the sky.

"So…how'd it go with Opaline?" Skylar, who sat behind Amalia, shouted over the wind.

"Good. I think."

"What?"

"Good," Amalia decided.

"She told you everything?"

"Yeah. I'll try to convince my parents."

"We can only try and hope now, I guess."

"Yeah. I'll be doing both."

They weren't quite sure what to say after that, so they saved their breaths until New Archadia came into view. The tall colorful buildings looked almost iridescent from this height. Dalmasca Castle rose up from the iridescent sea, gleaming in the sunlight, so tall that it threw a shadow over several city blocks.

Ratha flew past it, to the limits of the city, where a black arena-shaped building dominated the landscape. They touched down in front of the Tribunal Hall, where guards rushed back and forth, ushering people in and leading wyverns to a set of stables. As they dismounted, Ratha saw the stables and began to whimper.

Amalia tried to console him, rubbing his nose. "Aw, it'll be all right, Ratha. It's only for a few hours. And you might meet a friend!"

Ratha began to purr. He wasn't paying any attention to what Amalia was saying, but the nose rub seemed to do the trick. He reluctantly followed a guard away, and Amalia lost sight of him in the crowd as people pushed past them.

"We should go in," Opaline suggested.

Amalia looked up at the towering black building, trying to pretend that it wasn't incredibly intimidating. She gulped before saying, "Yeah, right."

They all reluctantly moved toward the entrance. Once the crowd funneled into the small opening in the side of the stadium, they lined up in seven lines for identification and security. The four friends joined the shortest line, too nervous to say anything to each other. When they made it to the front of the line, they pressed their thumbs to a black pad to submit their fingerprints, then were waved through. Next was a magic detector. A worker took their sword, bolt, spear, and bow, and locked them away, promising that they could retrieve them when they left. They walked through the magic detectors and entered into the arena.

A walkway circled the stadium, which overlooked rows upon rows of seats, painted in wedges of red, blue, white, green and purple, each signifying the Sword, Bolt, Bow, Scythe, and Spear Realms, represented by the capital kingdoms of each Realm: Bahamut, Meterolia, Dianaria, Coastland, and Gemnia. In the center of each wedge, about halfway up, was a section designated for the royalty of the representing kingdoms, where they stood in a sort of box that projected from the rest of the seats.

"Well, I guess this is where we go our different ways," Crescenta murmured.

They all broke off, Opaline going right, and Crescenta and Skylar going left, leaving Amalia to go straight. She walked down the steps until she found her mom, Okita Dalmasca; her dad, Orion Dalmasca; and her younger sisters, Ishtar and Illya.

"Hi Amalia!" Illya shouted, tackling Amalia with a hug.

"Hi!" Amalia wheezed back.

"Glad you could make it," said Ishtar. "We got worried when Judge Magister Gabranth said he couldn't find you."

"Well, I made it!" Amalia said.

Queen Okita Dalmasca smiled down at her. "We're all glad you made it. And just in time, too. The proceedings start in five minutes. Meanwhile, you can catch up with your sisters. I know you've only seen them once since you left, when we invited Mr. and Mrs. Diaz on a tour as a wedding gift."

Amalia and her sisters shared a look. They'd seen each other more that their mother thought.

But King Orion Dalmasca saved her from answering. "This is your first Tribunal, isn't it?"

All three sisters agreed that it was.

King Orion frowned, looking to Amalia. "And I trust that Judge Magister Gabranth informed you of the details of the Tribunal?"

"Well… more or less." She explained the whole trip—finding Crescenta, hearing about the Tribunal, and meeting and reconciling with Opaline.

"So you and Opaline are back on good terms?" Amalia's mom asked her.

"Yes. Well, we're getting there, anyway."

"Do you think she would make a good Queen?"

Amalia considered her answer for a moment. "She's been through a lot with her mom, and she's really young to be Queen, but… if anyone can handle that, it's definitely her."

Queen Okita frowned. "That… possibly changes things."

"Mom, Opaline told me that this other guy—Prince Luster—she said he's bad. I don't see how anyone could choose to elect him!"

"Prince Luster isn't _bad_ , he's… a risk. But so is Opaline."

"What's Prince Luster trying to do?"

"His motives are as of yet unclear. However, from what I have been able to gather, it seems that he favors magicals over nonmagicals, much like Queen Umbra, the new Queen of Dianaria. But it is also unclear how far he is willing to go to enforce his beliefs."

"That's terrible!"

"I know it sounds bad, but whether it's been openly discussed or not, this kind of sentiment has always existed. That's why most of the residents of New Archadia are magicals, while residents of cities like New Rabanastre are nonmagicals."

Amalia's next argument was cut off by a voice ringing out through the arena: **Proceedings are now starting. Please find your seats and remain quiet.** The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

Amalia looked to the royalty sections in the other wedges. In the green wedge, she could make out Prince Palmero Tropicano, a tanned boy about seventeen years old with messy green hair and a wide grin. Next to him stood his friend—who he had probably snuck into the royalty box—Joshua Arbolero, who had medium brown skin and a mop of fiery orange hair that rather reminded Amalia of a starfish sitting on top of his head. They both wore turquoise robes with silky sea-green pants. On Palmero's other side was his sister Princess Sandra Tropicano, wearing a tan dress. Queen Solaria Tropicano stood behind her in an aquamarine gown, and the monarch, King Oceano, wore a suit that matched his wife's gown, and a crown modeled to look like kelp rested atop his head.

In the blue wedge, Amali saw Skylar's identical twin brothers Cumulus and Nubulus, who were maybe eight years old. The one on the left reached over and tugged on the fluffy white hair of the other, who let out an indignant cry and pounded on the first, while Skylar tried to separate them. The monarch, Queen Reyna Atmósphera, and her husband King Thunder, tried to retain dignified poses while scolding their youngest children. The Queen wore a gray-blue dress of sheer fabric that reminded Amalia of rainfall, and a circlet that looked like it was made of lightning bolts circled her head.

In the white wedge, Amalia could pick out Crescenta in her pale red tunic standing next to her mom Satellia in the golden dress they had seen her wearing earlier. Just above them, in the royalty section, stood Queen Umbra. Amalia wasn't sure what her last name was, but she supposed it would be King Gibbouso's bachelor name (the Draclord equivalent of a maiden name). Either way, Queen Umbra was a young woman of about twenty, unmarried judging by the fact that she stood alone in the royalty box. A circlet showing the phases of the moon sat upon her head. Her skin was ghostly pale, and her straight black hair fell almost to her knees, fanning out over her back in a way that made her look almost ethereal. Her ice blue eyes were a striking contrast to her dark hair, and they seemed to pierce straight through Amalia.

In the purple wedge, Opaline stood beside her now-widowed father, Granite Bijou, who wore a mottled gray suit. Alexandrite Bijou was wrapped in green robes and had a puff of pink hair but was surprisingly still and somber for a six-year-old.

As she looked around the red wedge, she spotted Sally above them and to the right, who gave her an encouraging thumbs-up.

"Wow, _everyone_ is here!" she breathed.

"It's an important decision," King Orion pointed out.

Then another announcement rang out: **Would the tesifiers, Opaline Bijou and Luster Gold, please make their way to the stage?**

Opaline wobbled down the stairs, trying to maintain a dignified posture, while Prince Luster strode down confidently, flashing a charismatic smile. He was a man of about thirty and wore a jacket encrusted with what looked like real diamonds. His yellow-blond hair was slicked back, and his eyes of the same color looked bright and inviting.

Almost… _too_ inviting.

Once they had made it to the stage, a worker hurried out and handed them Amplifiers, a contraption that worked like a human microphone.

 **Each testifier will have a chance to plead their case to the Tribune. King Granite will be standing in for Queen Emerald Bijou as the representative of Gemnia, per Draclord Law Article 39, Section 12, stating that, if a monarch dies, steps down, or is otherwise deemed unfit to rule, his or her spouse may vote on the Tribune until the coronation of the next monarch. After the testifiers have spoken, each Realm may elect a Speaker to provide further insight upon the matter. After each Realm has spoken, the five representatives will vote. A simple majority of three votes will determine the verdict. We shall start by hearing the testimony of Princess Opaline Bijou.**

Down on the stage below, Opaline shifted uncomfortably. She finally took a deep breath and began, "Draconoids everywhere, this has been a trying time for the citizens of Gemnia, for myself… for all of us. We are unsure of what curse ails my mother, but at this point we must prepare for the worst.

"I know it will not be easy, but I am prepared to take on the responsibility of Queen, to follow in my mother's footsteps, and to retain the stability and livelihood of the kingdom of Gemnia and of the Realm at large. These are troubling times for all of us, but I am here to see it through and make sure things don't take a turn for the worse." Amalia noticed Opaline throw a glance at Prince Luster. "Yes, I'm young. Yes, my mother is dying. But I am confident in my ability to stick this through. Gemnia has thrived for centuries, and I will ensure it stays that way.

"Despite that, I am not afraid of change, and I will make decisions to better the kingdom and the world. Political tensions between Gemnia and the other capital kingdoms have long run high, and I will seek to alleviate these. As an olive branch to the other realms, I plan to cease all embargoes and reduce the exportation tariffs on precious stones that have long been plaguing our commerce."

Opaline got a few happy mutterings and satisfied nods for that. _C'mon Opa, you've got this!_ Amalia thought, as though if she thought it hard enough, the princess below might be able to hear it.

"All I desire is stability in my kingdom and the growth of both political and personal relations with other kingdoms. I hope you are able to make your decisions based on my motives rather than my age. I _will_ accomplish these goals during my reign. Thank you for your consideration."

She stepped back and let the Amplifier fall to her side, signifying the end of her speech. She stood there in shock as though she couldn't quite believe what she'd just done.

Amalia had to admit, she was pretty impressed by Opaline's speech. She couldn't see how she could possibly lose with a speech like that.

That was, until Luster Gold stepped forward, flashing a dazzling smile. "Thank you very much, Opaline Bijou, for those… _impassioned_ words. She actually made one good point: that Gemnia has been doing the same darn thing for centuries. And look where that's gotten us!" He threw his hands up, dramatically gesturing around them. Amalia frowned despite the Prince's charisma—she hadn't missed the almost pitying way he said "impassioned" and how he said that Opaline had only "one good point."

Prince Luster continued, "Gemnia is the richest kingdom in all the Realm, dare I say in all of Draclord, but under the current system, the kingdom isn't able to flourish and share their wealth. We all know it. We've all heard whispers of it. We've all heard of the noble insurgency taking place in Dianaria as we speak, rooting out the weak so that the strong can better flourish." He made eye contact with Queen Umbra, who crossed her arms and nodded approvingly.

"It's time for a new King, a new dynasty, a new way. Magicals are the Lord of the Sky's gift to our society, and it is time that we receive the freedom that has been leached from us by those weaker than us. It's time that we step up and use our gifts to their full potential. We mustn't worry for those who are unworthy of our talents; they will find their own way. But we must protect our talents, lest they die out. Through intramarriage, we can strengthen our skills and ensure their survival."

"I've mentioned that this policy will help Gemnia flourish, but the benefits will not be restricted to Gemnia. If we stop wasting resources on our extensive support systems for nonmagicals, Gemnia will be more prosperous and more profitable, with more funds to spend on our principal industry, mining. The tariffs the Princess mentioned? Not reduced, gone. And with more funds allocated to mining, that means more precious materials. And more precious materials means lower prices! As you can all see, this system is mutually beneficial. My vision for the future is to liberate magicals everywhere, but, of course, we must start small. I do not expect the other kingdoms to follow my lead, although, of course, I encourage it. I respect political boundaries, and those who are not within my boundaries are free to choose their own way.

But that is only one avenue of change. The Gemnian matriarchy has been around since the beginning of our kingdom's existence. Women have ruled since the dawn of our kingdom, and it's time to stop favoring one gender over the other. Did you know that Gemnia is the only capital kingdom to never have a king regnant? There is, of course, the late King Gibbouso of Dianaria. You may remember King Ollago of Dalmasca, who ruled as king regnant a hundred and fifty years ago. Same goes for King Coldfront of Meterolia, Queen Reyna's father. And, of course, the current king of Coastland, the benevolent King Oceano.

"But not Gemnia. I would be the first King Regnant of Gemnia in its relatively long history. It's time for a new dynasty that will exist under, not matriarchy, but a system of gender-inclusive Ambiarchy—not the first daughter, nor the first son, but rather the first _child_ of the monarch shall be the heir. The matriarchal system is nothing but the outdated remains from when we once believed that only women could possess magical abilities. It's time to move past that and unite as a magical community. It's time to move on from the Bijous and prepare for the dawn of the Gold dynasty. I trust that you will all make the right choice. Thank you."

Amalia had to admit, Prince Luster was quite convincing. She almost started to believe that he might make a better monarch than Opaline before she snapped out of it and focused on what he had actually said.

 _He wanted to segregate the magicals and nonmagicals._

Somehow, that fact had slipped Amalia's mind as he spoke—she had been focusing more on his claims of better relations with the other kingdoms and gender equality.

"He _is_ rather convincing," Okita Dalmasca murmured, almost dreamily.

"Yes… his policies sound… very beneficial," Orion Dalmasca agreed in the same tone.

They all snapped back to reality when the announcer's voice rang out: **Coastland may now provide insight. King Oceano may speak for his kingdom, or he may choose a Speaker.**

There was shuffling around the royalty box, then Palmero took the Amplifier and began to speak: "Heya, everyone! Coastland is too chill to worry about magicals and nonmagicals, but as a patriarchy, we think it'd be chill to have a King rule Gemnia. And Coastland has been isolated from the other four kingdoms for a long time, so we're totally up for better relations and stuff. Yeah." He put the Amplifier down.

Then it was King Granite's turn. He said in his gravelly voice, "I know I may be accused of nepotism for defending my daughter, but, like all of you, I approach this situation objectively and disinterestedly. I speak for the people of Gemnia when I say that Opaline is right—Gemnia needs stability after what has happened to their Queen. She is young, but she will have me to guide her. I beseech the Tribune to trust Opaline Bijou to preserve the relative tranquility brought about by Queen Emerald's reign. Thank you."

Many of the Gemnians seemed to agree, but most of the others seemed uninterested.

Meterolia decided to pass, so Amalia wasn't sure where they stood. When it was Queen Umbra's turn to speak, she just said in a rather bored tone, "Let's just get this over with."

 **You elect to pass?** the unseen Mediator confirmed.

"Yes." Immediately, Satellia Luna shot out of her seat. "What's this?" Queen Umbra groaned.

 **If the monarch elects to pass on their turn to speak or choose a Speaker, a member of that kingdom may volunteer herself or himself,** the dismembered voice explained.

Queen Umbra reluctantly handed over her Amplifier to Crescenta's mom, who began, "I bring to the Tribune a similar matter, that of the ascension of Queen Umbra to the throne of Dianaria."

Queen Umbra tried to snatch the Amplifier back, but Satellia danced away. "According to Old Draclan Common Law, Amendment 2, 'a Princess, if within one year has been denied her right to the throne due to young age, she may, if now of proper age to rule, challenge she who has received the throne, in which case a Tribune must be called to order. A simple majority may dispel this case, but in the case of a unanimous vote in favor of said Princess, she shall be crowned Queen.'"

Now Queen Umbra actually did manage to snatch the Amplifier. "That's ridiculous! That law has not been enforced for ages!"

 **This Tribunal was called to decide the successor of the Gemnian crown. Any other cases must be dealt with separately.**

"It will not be dealt with at all!" Queen Umbra stated. "My sister-in-law has no right to invoke millenia-old laws in the middle of an unrelated case!"

 **Let us take a quick vote, then, a simple majority deciding whether this matter may be discussed at a later date. The Coastlandian representative shall begin.**

Amalia was surprised to hear king Oceano respond just as informally as his son: "Eh, why not? I won't turn down the excitement of a Tribunal. I vote in favor of reconvening."

King Granite seemed a bit shocked but managed to say, "I also vote in favor of reconvening."

Queen Reyna discussed with her daughter for a moment before announcing, "Meterolia would like to hear this out. We vote in favor."

"Fine, but you'll never get the unanimous vote while I'm still in this Tribune!" Queen Umbra seethed.

Although, she was right.  
 **We have a majority,** the Mediator announced. **This matter will be discussed at a later time.**

 **Meanwhile, Bahamut has yet to speak regarding the successor to the Gemnian throne.**

"We elect to pass," Okita Dalmasca said into the Amplifier.

Before Amalia could think, she grabbed the Amplifier and shouted, "I volunteer as Speaker!"

Then she realized what she had just done, dropped the Amplifier, and gave her mother an apologetic look.

Okita Dalmasca, rather than being angry, seemed rather amused. "Well, go on."

Amalia bent down and grabbed the Amplifier, then scrambled for words. "Umm… I'm Amalia Dalmaca, heir to the Bahamese throne. I… I'd like to vouch for Opa—Princess Opaline Bijou. We've been friends since I can remember, although the last few months have been… rough for our friendship. But now I see all the responsibility Opaline is taking on. And I'll tell you why she does it. No fifteen-year-old _wants_ the responsibility of running a kingdom—not the reality of it, anyway. But Opaline told me that she felt like she _had_ to in order to protect the liberties of her people. I've known Opaline for many years, and I know that she is willing to put others before herself and make proactive choices to help her people.

"It's clear to me that Prince Luster is after the throne for its power, so that he can feel that power and inflict his beliefs upon every person under his rule. His motives are sordid. We must not vote selfishly—we must vote for what is best for Gemnia. And I believe the best monarch for Gemnia is Opaline Bijou. I hope you consider that when you make your decisions."

Amalia let out a huge sigh of relief and set the Amplifier down. She caught Opaline's eye, and the Gemnia Princess gave her a grateful smile. Prince Luster was fuming.

 **As each testifier and each Realm has had the opportunity to speak, let us now commence voting. "In favor" means a vote for Princess Opaline Bijou—the legitimate monarch—to ascend to the throne, while "Against" signifies a vote to deny Princess Opaline Bijou the throne in favor of the next-in-line, Prince Luster Gold. Coastland will begin.**

"Against," King Oceano said gruffly. Amalia winced.

The crowd then turned to look at King Granite, even though his vote was obvious: "In favor."

Next was Queen Reyna's vote. Amalia held her breath. If she voted against, there was no way Opaline would be able to win two more votes. Queen Reyna and Skylar whispered to each other for a moment, then Queen Reyna finally said, "In favor."

Amalia almost let out a cheer. Opaline was winning the vote! But Amalia knew that Queen Umbra would vote against, which would leave it all up to Bahamut's vote. Sure enough, Queen Umbra snapped, "Against!"

 **The vote is tied: two in favor, two against. Bahamut, the last vote is yours.**

Amalia looked up at her mom pleadingly, but Queen Okita wouldn't meet her eyes.

After a moment, she said, "In favor."

 **By a simple 3-to-2 majority, the Tribune has decided in favor of the normal ascension to the throne of Princess Opaline Bijou—heretofore to be referred to as Queen Opaline!** About half the crowd cheered, but all of a sudden, something strange started to happen.

Starting in the Gemnia wedge, heads began to loll, and King Granite and Prince Alexandrite collapsed. As Amalia watched the people losing consciousness, she began to feel rather sleepy herself, although she wasn't sure why….

Then she heard it: a sound. A sound so sweet that Amalia thought she could listen to it forever. Singing. Someone was singing. Amalia looked around to find who was singing that lovely song. Eventually, her eyes landed on a woman with white-blond hair with her arms raised into the air, eyes closed, chanting that serene song… Cloya Gold.

Amalia realized with a start that she recognized that woman as the one who was sitting next to Prince Luster at the beginning of Tribunal—his wife. She remembered what Opaline had told her about Lady Cloya: _one of the most powerful Memory-Wipers known to Draclord_. She was trying to Wipe everyone's memories! At the same moment she realized this, a hand gripped her wrist tightly. Then she felt herself floating, drifting, stretching, then she snapped back to herself and collapsed on the stone floor of the throne room of Dalmasca Castle.

"Amalia, are you alright?" Queen Okita's usually calm, confident voice wobbled.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Amalia said, picking herself up. "What happened?"

Queen Okita sighed. "When Prince Luster lost the vote, Cloya Gold started mesmerizing the entire audience of the Tribunal so she could Alter their memories—it was probably planned. We were the farthest away from Lady Cloya, so we were affected last. Even then, we never would have escaped without the Beamers, and not all of the kingdoms have Beamer systems in place. I think it's safe to say that the five of us were the only ones able to escape."

Amalia looked around the empty throne room. "Then… where are Dad, Ishtar and Illya?"

Queen Okita chewed her lip and averted her eyes, as if she had been avoiding that question. "They _should_ be here. Neither of us could grab all three of you, so I took you, and Orion took Ishtar and Illya. They would have beamed to wherever Orion's Beamer was set to, since he didn't have time to change it. But I thought his last beam was with me into this room. I suppose it's possible that he beamed after that without me knowing, but in that case they could be anywhere within the boundaries of Bahamut. We should search for them."

"But what happened to everyone else? The people who didn't make it out?"

"They're probably on their way home, expecting the coronation of Prince Luster."

"Wait, WHAT? I thought she Wiped their memories!"

"Not Wiped, Amalia. _Altered_. I suspect that she made them think that Luster had won, specifically that he had won my vote."  
"So… that's it? They all just think that Prince Luster won?"

"Not necessarily. There are at least two witnesses whose memories survived. It may be possible to return their memories if we find someone who can. I would normally appeal to Queen Emerald, but—"

"Opaline, then," Amalia interrupted. "If I remember, she's pretty good at memory magic."

"Yes, but she was affected."

"So? You said that nothing's different; they just think that Prince Luster won."

"In theory, yes. But Altering memories often has… adverse effects. Sometimes changing one memory starts a ripple effect, causing more memories to be Altered than are intended. The only way to reverse them is—"

She was cut off by King Orion, Ishtar, and Illya appearing in front of them.

Queen Okita began pummeling her husband with questions: "Orion! You're safe! Where were you? What took you so long?"

Instead of responding, he fell to his knees and bent over, groveling. "My Queen," he said reverently.

"Orion, what are you doing? Get up!"

He did. "I know not why I am here, my Queen. My daughters insisted that I come here. I apologize for intruding. I don't know why I have a Beamer that goes here."  
Okita let her face fall into her palm. "Oh dear, he's forgotten that he's my husband. He must not have made it out in time and had his mind Altered. This is a perfect example of the adverse effects I mentioned, but we may be able to fix it. Come, Amalia, let's find Opaline." Okita fiddled with her Beamer, setting the coordinates, then Amalia took her mom's hand. "Oh, Ishtar, Illya, sweeties, I'm glad you're safe. Just wait here until we come back."

"Safe?" Ishtar asked warily. "Why are you worried about us being—"

But Amalia and her mom had already beamed out. Once her body had snapped back together, Amalia realized that they were standing in front of the Tribunal Hall again. "Wait, why…?"

"I figured Ratha would be the fastest way to get to Gemnia. Plus, we need to get your sword back."

Right, they couldn't beam to anywhere outside Bahamut.

There were hundreds of people surging out of the exit, so they had to push through the crowd to get back to security. Once they made it, Amalia scanned her fingerprint, and the worker returned her sword, while her mom got back a pair of dimensional scissors. The latter frowned, muttering, "More people might have been able to escape if they hadn't confiscated these. I might need to talk to the Tribune about that."

"Wait, why didn't they confiscate your and Dad's Beamers?" Amalia asked.

"Beamers are more technology than magic, so they don't show up on magic detectors. Plus, they're authorized. Like dimensional scissors ought to be."

"We should probably get to Ratha now," Amalia said.

"Right."

They made their way to the stables, but there was a long line waiting to get their wyverns back. Amalia found the wait maddening, knowing that there was something she needed to fix but unable to do anything but wait.

And wait. And wait.

Inch by inch by inch.

When they finally made it to the front, Amalia described Ratha to the stablehand, and he brought Ratha out.

"The Bijou's wyvern is gone," Okita noticed. "So we can be sure Opaline has already left."

"That's good. She'll probably be back in the castle by the time we get there," Amalia agreed.

The stablehand directed them to take off in a field away from the crowd then began attending to the next person.

When they were finally able to take off, Amalia coaxed Ratha toward Gemnia as fast as possible. The Realm of the Sword bordered the Realm of the Spear, so Gemnia wasn't too far.

After about twenty painful minutes, the pristine white Castle Bijou came into view. Amalia landed Ratha in an open field near the gates to the castle and told him to stay.

"Amalia, you do realize that we need to tether him, right?" Okita suggested.  
"No! He'll stay if I tell him to!" She rubbed he Rathalos's muzzle. "Won't you, Ratha?"

"If he doesn't need to be tethered, then tethering him won't make any difference, will it?" Okita extended her hand, and a rope shot out, knotting itself around Ratha's thigh and the nearest tree. Sure enough, Ratha hardly seemed to notice. He made a few circles then plopped down and fell asleep, breathing out puffs of smoke as he snored.

Queen Okita and Amalia approached the gates. A guard with long brown hair stood on the right, while a yellow-haired guard stood opposite her. They crossed their spears in front of Okita and Amalia.

"We request an audience with Opaline Bijou," Queen Okita explained.

The brown-haired one spoke into some sort of mouthpiece. After a moment, she declared, "Princess Opaline will see you in the throne room." The guards uncrossed their spears and opened the gates to let the two Dalmascas pass.

They entered the throne room. Tapestries ran down the otherwise-plain white walls, and rugs covered the floor. Three thrones were at the back of the room. The biggest was in the middle and was encrusted with green jewels, presumably for Queen Emerald. The one on the right was only slightly shorter but was much more rugged, composed of marbled gray stone that resembled King Granite's namesake. The one on the left was dotted with opals and diamonds for Princess Opaline.

Speaking of Opaline… where was she?

Amalia couldn't help but tap her foot impatiently The sound echoed off the walls until it sounded much louder.

Finally, Opaline appeared in one of the doorways. She had drawn her hair to the front so that it covered her face, but Amalia could still see her red-rimmed eyes through it.

"Well… I guess I tried everything I could," Opaline sighed.

"Maybe not," Amalia said. "Do you know how to restore Altered memories?"

Opaline looked up at her in confusion. "Why?"

"You'll see," Amalia pressed. "Can you?"

"I mean, I don't get much practice with it, since there aren't exactly people lining up to be Cleansed. But I'm pretty good at it."

"What did you call it?"

"A Cleanse. That's what we call it when you restore memories, set them back to the original. A Cleanse retrieves Wiped memories and reverts Altered memories."

"Would it be possible to do a Cleanse on yourself?"

Opaline jumped back. "Did someone Alter my memories?"

"Yeah. Cloya Gold Altered the whole auditorium's memories when you won the Tribunal."

"I _won_?" she asked in disbelief. "Cloya Gold would never do something like that…"

"If you do the Cleanse, you can find out."

Opaline chewed her bottom lip. "I guess it couldn't hurt." She stuck the sharp part of her spear into the ground then leaned forward and touched her forehead to the other end. A few seconds passed, then…

She gasped and stumbled backward.

"Wow… I can't believe she did that," Opaline said.  
"Yeah. Now we know how Prince Luster planned to implement his policies," Amalia pointed out.

"Wipe his dissenters' minds…" Opaline finished in horrified awe, shuddering at the words.

"That's why it's a good thing you won," Amalia said. "But first we need to make everyone remember."  
Opaline sighed. "I can try. It's different Cleansing myself. I don't have to enter the other person's mind and search their memories."

That sounded… a bit gross. "How does that work anyway?"

"It's a bit hard to explain," Opaline told her. "But… imagine that all your memories are on a reel of film strip, each memory in its own panel. When someone Alters a memory, they create a fake memory and stick it on top of the memory they're trying to Alter, which we call Implanting. Then, when your mind plays back the film, all it sees is the Altered memory. Wiping memories is easier because you don't have to create a new memory. To do a Wipe, you take a memory from another place, cut it out, and stick it on top of the memory you want to Wipe. Your memory naturally reorganizes anything that it senses is out of order, so it's like that memory that got covered up is gone .

"When you do a Memory Cleanse, you peel off the extra memories and reveal the ones underneath. It's actually easier to Cleanse Altered memories, since you can just discard the fake memory and reveal the one underneath. But Cleansing Wiped memories is a bit more dangerous. When you peel back the memory that the Wiper used to cover up the other one, you have to insert the memory you peeled off back into the film strip. If you don't do it just right, they could lose the memory you peeled off forever. Some of the most powerful Wipers manage to use fundamental memories to cover the Wiped memory, so that if a Cleanser peels it off and accidentally lets it fall away, the person left won't be the same anymore."

A chill ran down Amalia spine. "Wait… but why did my dad forget that he married my mom? Did Lady Cloya use that memory? Did it fall away somehow?"

"No, only Cleansed memories can fall away. And anyway, Lady Cloya was Altering memories, not wiping, so we don't have to worry about anything falling away. But the way Lady Cloya Altered the whole audience's memories without physical contact… almost like she sent out a signal… it shouldn't be possible. And I've never seen a Minder—that's what we call people who do memory magic—mesmerize an audience like that. either. I think that's a Scytherian skill, actually. But however she did it, it was probably rather imprecise. I'd bet she Altered more memories than she thought. Maybe she Implanted Queen Okita saying 'No' to me, but also Implanted that same memory of her saying 'No' when he proposed, or something like that?"  
"But wouldn't he still remember the wedding and everything?"

"When our minds are messed with, they often do strange things to try to understand what really happened."

"Yeah, I guess. But it doesn't matter, because you'll fix him, right?"

Opaline looked away, but then she met Amalia's eyes and said, "I'll try."

Amalia jumped when her Queen Okita spoke; she'd almost forgotten that her mom was there: "Perhaps we should start with King Granite, while we're here."

"Yeah. He shouldn't mind my searching his memories too much. I think he's in my parents'—I mean, his—room."

 **(Time for some Opaline POV!)**

Opaline led the Dalmascas to her father's room. She knocked, and the door flew open with a flick of King Granite's wrist.

Most kings didn't have magic since it was customary for a Queen (or, in some cases, King) of a capital kingdom to marry the royalty of a lesser kingdom in their Realm. The lesser kingdoms weren't often ruled by magicals, so those who married the monarchs of the capital kingdoms didn't have the genes for magic. But King Granite had some magic ability since was actually a descendant of Queen Andara of Dalmasca, but his family had moved to Gemnia when he was young. Then he met Opaline's mom and fell in love with her. Then they got married, and...

And that was all that needed to be said about that.

Anyway, her dad had some magical talent, although his magic was more inclined toward fighting, since that was the focus of Swordian Magic. And he could open doors, apparently.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hello, Opaline. What are the Dalmascas doing here?"

"They… brought something to my attention about the Tribunal. Something went wrong. If you don't mind, I need to do a Memory Cleanse on you."

"I… why?"

"You'll see. Do you trust me?"

King Granite sighed. "Go ahead."

Opaline placed the butt of her spear on her dad's forehead and closed her eyes.

Instantly, she was swarmed with fragments thoughts, tumbling over one another into indiscernibility.

— _what are the Dalmascas—_

— _this is strange—_

— _I hope she doesn't see—_

The only one she could clearly make out was:

 _WHAT IS GOING ON?_

She shoved the thoughts away, focusing on the memories before her. She saw herself putting her spear on her dad's forehead, which she ignored, pushing through. Further back she saw her dad in his room, crying. The Memory was dim, as though King Granite was trying to hide it from her. She tried to force herself to look away, but she couldn't. She could barely make out the image, but she caught a glimmer of his emotions.

Anger.

Despair.

 _Disappointment_.

Opaline had learned by now that people often didn't mean what they thought, and that searching someone's memories came with the risk of finding something you didn't want to see.

But it still hurt, just a little.

She took a deep breath, then forced herself to push further.

Eventually, she found the memory she was looking for. It was the same one she had peeled out of her mind.

Queen Okita said "Against," and the crowd burst out in cheers, boos, and something in between as the Mediator said, **By a simple 3-to-2 majority, the Tribune has decided against the normal ascension to the throne of Princess Opaline Bijou. Instead, Prince Luster—heretofore to be referred to as King Luster—will inherit the Gemnian throne.**

Lady Cloya hadn't changed much, Opaline realized. She had only changed a few key words to make it seem like Prince Luster had won. Maybe that was because her power was spread so thinly over the entire audience, or maybe it was a sly way of making sure no one suspected.

But Amalia and her mom had caught Lady Cloya. And now she was going down.

Opaline rallied her magical energy, pooling it together and swirling it together like a whirlpool. Then she shoved it away, and it swept over the Implanted memory, carrying it away. Underneath, the real memory emerged—Lady Cloya singing the whole auditorium to sleep.

A piercing headache sliced through Opaline's mind. She stumbled back, clutching her forehead.

Amalia caught her before she collapsed. "Whoa, you all right?"

Opaline took a few shallow breaths then shakily removed her hands from her forehead. Amalia helped her back to her feet, but she just fell back into Amalia's arms.

"Nope!" This time, Amalia just held her. But now real concern laced her tone. "Opaline… are you okay?"

It was hard for Opaline to make the words come out, but just the thought of moving her head, much less nodding, made her woozy, so she finally forced herself to croak, "Yeah."

Amalia picked her up, bridal style, and carried her to her dad's bed, setting her down there.

 _Whoa, when did Amalia get that strong?_ Opaline wondered. Amalia had always been the badass of the group, but she had picked Opaline up like she weighed nothing. _I guess I've missed some things in the last few months,_ she realized.

As she lay there, she felt the pain begin to ease and her strength begin to return. Eventually, she managed to ask, "My dad… how is he? I… I don't know whether I managed to wash the Implanted memory away completely. It might have stuck back on somewhere else…"

"I'm just fine," King Granite told her, sitting on the bed next to her. "And more than that, I'm so proud of you! You won the Tribunal! And you managed to Cleanse the memory Lady Cloya Altered!"

"Yeah, well.. I couldn't have done either of those things without Amalia."

"Yeah… what is going on between you two anyway?" King Granite asked. "Don't get me wrong, it's great to see you two getting along, but I thought you… weren't on the best of terms."

Opaline looked to Amalia, who nodded. "I… think we're friends again," she explained to her dad.

"Well… I guess it's a good thing we have her on our side again."

Amalia jumped in. "I think the better way of putting it is that we're better together."

"A wise statement."

"From a wise girl," Queen Okita added, smiling to her daughter.

Opaline sat up, her strength mostly returned. "Now it's time to set things right."

* * *

After several hours of riding Ratha, several more of Opaline's head-splitting headaches, and several grumpy monarchs, the Tribune had assembled again in the Tribunal Hall. This time, the Hall was empty but for the five royal families, Crescenta and her mom Satellia, and Luster and Cloya Gold. The Golds stood down in the center of the arena, encased in an antimagic barrier courtesy of Queen Okita Dalmasca.

The only other one there was the mysterious Mediator, who began, **This is an emergency Tribunal. Officially, it has been called to discuss claims to the Dianarian throne. However, since the Tribune are currently the only witnesses of the crime, this Tribunal will also serve to discuss charges against Luster and Cloya Gold for using Minding without permission, unfounded attack upon royalty, and intentional biasing of a Tribunal. The Tribune may discuss this issue freely.**

Queen Umbra was the first to speak up. "Lady Cloya is obviously guilty for Altering our memories, as we all now remember. But do we actually have any proof that Prince Luster was involved?"

"She obviously did it to help her husband win the Tribunal," Queen Reyna objected. "And it seemed like it had been planned."

" _Seemed like_ and _actually was_ are two very different things," Queen Umbra retorted.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Queen Umbra is right. We don't have any hard evidence," Queen Okita admitted.

Opaline whispered something to her dad. "My daughter says she has an idea," he announced.

"Go ahead," Queen Okita encouraged.

Opaline took the Amplifier. "Even after a memory has been Cleansed, there's a certain… trace left behind. A taintedness. If Prince Luster had his memory Altered and someone Cleansed it, then I'll be able to see that the memory is tainted. But if this was all planned from the start, Prince Luster would have known to look away, and his memory would have never been Altered. So if I search his memories, I should be able to tell if he was involved."

 **Are there any objections to this?**

No one spoke.

Opaline made her way down to the stage. Since it was an emergency Tribunal with no one in the audience, Opaline had been allowed to keep her spear. This time with much more confidence, she strode toward the center of the arena. Queen Okita modified the antimagic shield to make a hole that allowed Opaline to stick her spear through, but Prince Luster scrambled away from it.

Queen Reyna's voice echoed: "We cannot force you to submit to a Memory Search, but shall you refuse, we must assume your guilt."

Prince Luster sighed, looking to Opaline. "Okay. But please only look at that memory."

In that moment of his weakness, she realized that he was just another person. She smiled at him and said, "If you think about that memory, it'll be brought to the surface, so that I don't have to go deeper."

He nodded nervously and allowed her to press the blunt end of her spear to his forehead.

She dove into his mind.

It felt cold and gave her chills, like an icy lake. She pushed the thoughts away, but she couldn't help but hear one:

 _I hope she doesn't find—_

But the rest of the thought was drowned out. Trying not to worry about that, she shoved through until she found the memories. Sure enough, the first one she found was the memory of Lady Cloya putting everyone to sleep as she Altered their memories. It was dim, like he was trying to hide it even though he was thinking about it, but Opaline could clearly tell that there was no trace of a memory being on top. But the memory still felt… thick. There was something underneath. She swirled her magic together and began to peel up the memory, but just as the corner came up her magic reversed its course and shot straight back at her, striking her so forcefully that she stumbled back, dropped her spear, and fell to the floor, clutching her throbbing head. Instead of a knifelike pain, it was more of a pulsing ache, like something was trapped inside her head and trying to get out.

King Granite closed his eyes and thrust his arm out, palm open, toward Opaline. She began to rise off the floor, floating back toward the Gemnian royalty box. King Granite began to sweat, but then the other queens and king started helping, and Opaline was levitated safely into her father's arms.

"What did you see?" King Granite asked.

Opaline thought back to what she had seen in Prince Luster's mind. The one thought she had heard was concerning, and so was the fact that he had dimmed the memory. The top memory hadn't had any traces of a memory above it, but there had been one underneath. That might make sense, she supposed, if Prince Luster indeed had had his memory Altered, but instead of Cleansing it, his wife had Implanted the true memory on top. That would mean that he had not looked away the first time, so the fake memory had been laid over the true memory, and then another true memory had been lain over the fake one. But why would she do that instead of simply Cleansing the memory? Maybe there was only one memory underneath, in which Prince Luster had looked away, but Lady Cloya had Implanted the memory that Opaline had seen on top to hide the fact that he had looked away? But it had felt awfully thick, probably thicker than just two memories. Or maybe one of the middle memories had been Cleansed, and she had felt the traces of it? And then there was the weird part where her own magic had attacked her. She had never seen that before, although she had never performed a Memory Search on an unwilling target. It had almost felt like Prince Luster had shoved her magic back at her… was that possible?

"I… I don't know," she finally said.

"Princess Opaline must recover before she can perform another Memory Search, so we must continue without this evidence," Queen Reyna concluded. "Do the royal families have any further evidence to provide?" No one spoke. "Then, do Prince Luster or Lady Cloya have any further evidence to provide?"

Prince Luster spoke. "I have only my testimony that I was not involved in the Memory Alterations, and that they were not planned." Even without an Amplifier, the Tribunal Hall was quiet enough that everyone could hear his voice.

"Very well. I suppose we must vote, then," Queen Reyna decided.

 **Correct. Firstly, the Tribune must decide whether to convict Lady Cloya for performing an unlawful Mind Alteration, attacking royalty, and the biasing of a Tribunal. "In favor" counts as a vote for conviction.**

All five monarchs voted in favor.

 **Now for the conviction of Prince Luster, for the same crimes?**

King Oceano and Queen Umbra voted against, but Queens Reyna and Okita voted in favor.

It was King Granite's turn to vote, but he just looked down at Opaline. "I'll vote however you think," he said. "You were the one in his mind, after all. Not to mention, you'll be the one doing this in a few days."

Opaline chewed her lip—a habit she really should stop—as she looked down at Prince Luster. He looked up at her pleadingly. She couldn't be sure that he had been involved, and she realized that, now that he could no longer become King, he really wasn't a problem. There was no point in imprisoning him.

"I… I don't think he deserves to be convicted," Opaline finally said.

King Granite looked slightly surprised, but he also said it with approval when he announced, "Gemnia votes against conviction."

 **Prince Luster and Lady Cloya will be dealt with accordingly.**

Queen Okita let her antimagic barrier dissolve, and two guards escorted them out of the Tribunal Hall, one of them slapping antimagic handcuffs around Lady Cloya's wrists. The Tribune wouldn't be deciding their sentence. As a system to keep the Tribune's power in check, the Tribune had the power to convict a person of high crimes, but it was up to the regional judiciary systems to sentence the criminal and enforce that sentence.

 **Now for the official matter of this Tribunal, Crescenta Luna's claim to the Dianarian throne. The plaintiffs, Crescenta and Satellia Luna, may now testify.**

Satellia stood up quickly. "I testified enough at the previous Tribunal. We can just get to the voting."

 **Very well. The Sword Realm votes first. A unanimous vote in favor mandates that Crescenta Luna replace Umbra Crater as Queen of Dianaria. A simple majority of votes against upholds Queen Umbra's reign.**

"In favor," Queen Okita said.

"In favor," Queen Reyna repeated.

"In favor," King Granite echoed.

Then everyone turned to King Oceano, who seemed to be caught off guard. "Um… yeah, sure, in favor!" he said.

But Queen Umbra shouted "AGAINST!" at the top of her lungs.

"So… what does that mean?" Queen Okita wondered. "Neither a unanimous vote in favor nor a simple majority against was achieved."

 **Give us a moment to discuss.**

Amalia frowned. _Us_? She was still trying to figure out who the mysterious Mediator was, but now there was apparently more than one of them.

Eventually, the voice spoke again. **Very few current laws allow for an inconclusive ruling for this very reason. But since Satellia Luna invoked an Old Draclan law, we sought an answer in the books of Old Draclan Common Law. Article 4, Section 22 of Old Draclan Common Law states: "In the case that a vote by the Tribune is in any way ambiguous, the Tribune must decide upon an alternate mode of voting, to be determined by a simple majority." May we suggest a solution: a normal popular vote by the Archerian** (see the end A/N) **citizens? It is both applicable and unbiased, and we can be sure that the decision reflects the interests of the Archerian people.**

There were murmurs of assent from the royals.

 **Shall we vote on it, then? The Bahamese representative shall start.**

They all voted in favor, even Queen Umbra, who claimed, "The Archerian people like me better! You'll see."

"You do realize that a popular vote accounts for the _whole_ population, don't you?" Queen Reyna pointed out.

"The whole population…" Queen Umbra murmured.

 **It has been decided by a unanimous vote. The Dianarian citizens will vote by the normal popular voting method to decide who will be the Queen of Dianaria. Per normal popular voting, there will be a one-week voting period. After that, any changes must be fully enacted within two weeks. A Judge—**

"Wait!" Queen Umbra called out in a last, desperate attempt, "The girl hasn't even spoken yet! Shouldn't _she_ have some say in whether or not she wants to challenge me for the Crown?"

 **That's… a good point that we have overlooked. The Old Draclan law that Satellia Luna cited specifies that the** _ **princess in question**_ **must challenge the current Queen. Queen Umbra, would you please pass your Amplifier to Crescenta Luna?**

Queen Umbra happily complied. She passed the Amplifier to Crescenta, then began whispering into her ear, while Crescenta tried to move away.

 **Please step away from Miss Luna** , the Mediator's voice demanded. Queen Umbra begrudgingly complied, but not before giving Crescenta a pointed look.

Crescenta clutched the Amplifier and let the silence stretch out into awkwardness, which Amalia had noticed was one of the former Moon Princess's nervous tendencies.

Finally, she said, "I will accept my role as Queen if that is what the Archerian people choose."

 **That should settle it, unless there are any further objections?**

There were none.

 **Then it has been decided. As for a few additional matters, King Granite, it would be beneficial if you were to gather your best Minders—specifically Cleansers—to fix the Altered memories of the previous Tribunal's audience, as this should rectify any confusion they may have. Additionally, Judge Magister Gabranth shall be temporarily relieved of his current duties to oversee the voting process in Dianaria and make sure it is free of any bias. Otherwise, this Tribunal has adjourned.**

They all got to leave the normal way this time. They couldn't find Skylar, but when Opaline, Crescenta, and Amalia met, Amalia said to Crescenta, "So… that was why your mom was so excited to come back."

"Because she saw an opportunity to get her back into the royalty," Opaline added.

"By making me Queen," Crescenta finished.

"How do you feel about it?" Opaline asked, almost rhetorically.

Crescenta let the silence stretch out before responding, "I… I don't want to be Queen. Not at all. But I know that I would be a better ruler than Queen Umbra, so I guess I kind of feel obligated to. Now I get exactly how you feel, Opa. It feels incredibly conceited to say this, but it's a really selfless act to become Queen, at least in our situation."

"Yeah, it's… rough. But I think that sometimes the best rulers are the ones who never asked for power. 'Cause they're putting their people first from the very beginning."

"But that's not entirely your responsibility, Cressa," Amalia pointed out. "You can't always carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. It might break you down."

"That's true, but someone has to step up," Crescenta argued. "And I think I would be less sure if it was just that, but it's not just that. My mom seems so much happier since we've been back in Draclord, and I know she would be a lot happier if she could be royalty again. Plus, it's a lot easier to live with her when she's happy. And finally, something about this just feels right to me somehow. If I'm Queen, it means no more moving. I get to stay in Draclord with you two and Kyla. Between that and your reconciliation with each other, things will go back to… sorta how they used to be. I just… I feel like this is the right decision. Hard, but right."

"I guess only the votes can say what will happen now," Amalia said.

"Yeah. I don't really know which way I'm hoping the vote goes."

"Probably best to keep it that way," Opaline suggested. "Then you can't be disappointed by the result. That's how I felt about mine."

"Right, when's your coronation?"

"A week from now."

"Like… the same day that we get the results of the Dianarian vote?"

"Yep. The same day."

"Well… I guess I'll see you in a week, then," Amalia concluded.

The other girls nodded, too lost in their thoughts to reply, and sought out their parents. Amalia turned to find hers but was instead met by the three Judge Magisters. "Gabranth! Ghis! Zargabaath! What are you doing here? I thought this Tribunal was for the royal families only."

"Well, someone has to mediate the Tribunal," Judge Magister Ghis said.

"Wait… that was _you three_?"

"Of course!" Gabranth exclaimed. "We are the Judge Magisters, after all."

Judge Magister… as in _Judge_ Magister. Oh. "But Opaline didn't Cleanse your minds! How do you know what happened?"  
"We weren't actually in the room when Lady Cloya attempted to Alter the audience's minds, so we weren't affected. Nor did we know what had transpired until Queen Okita contacted us and asked us to return to mediate the emergency Tribunal," Judge Magister Zargabaath explained.

"Huh. I didn't know you judged Tribunals."

"It is one of our many obligations," Judge Magister Ghis said.

"Speaking of obligations, apparently I will be pulled away from mine." Judge Gabranth looked pointedly at Amalia.

"You know that neither I nor Zargabaath can abandon our current duties. You have the most dispensable obligation," Ghis reminded him.

"I would not call protecting the Princess of Bahamut 'dispensable,'" Gabranth protested.

"Oh, please. She's protecting you more than you're protecting her," Ghis remarked.

Ghis and Zargabaath seemed to find this amusing. Gabranth did not.

"Very well," he finally conceded. "I will monitor the voting proceedings in Dianaria, but I will be back _immediately_ after I'm done." He looked to Amalia. "And keep the danger to a minimum while I'm gone."

Amalia shrugged. "As long as Ba'Gamnan and his goons are out there, and as long as I'm living with Star Butterfly, I can't make any promises."

"That's not exactly reassuring."

"I never said it would be." Amalia smiled up at him sweetly.

The Gabranth tried changing the subject. "Where is Star anyway? And Marco, for that matter? They weren't at home when I returned to Earth."

Then Amalia remembered. "Oh."

"Oh, as in what?"

"Oh, as in: oh, I totally forgot that Star and Marco got arrested for bringing Sora and Jecht!"

"Wait, what?"

"I need to find my mom." Amalia bolted off.

Meanwhile, Judge Magister Gabranth sighed, throwing pointed glances at his comrades. "If the Princess is in more than one piece by the end of the week, I'd like you to remember that it's _your_ faults."  
"She'll be fine," Ghis assured him.

But the assurance was ruined when Zargabaath added, "Probably."

* * *

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAND THAT'S IT! Oh, wait…**

 **BONUS ROUND!**

 **Demonyms (what you call a person from…):**

 **Draclord - Draconoid (for a person—e.g., Amalia is a Draconoid.), Draclan (as an adjective—e.g., Draclan wyverns are cool.)  
Realm of the Sword - Swordian  
Realm of the Spear - Spearean  
Realm of the Bolt - Boltan  
Realm of the Bow - Archerian (this one's special), or sometimes Bowian (if you're not as fancy)  
Realm of the Scythe - Scytherian  
Bahamut - Bahamese  
Gemnia - Gemnian  
Meterolia - Meterolite  
Dianaria - Dianarian  
Coastland - Coastlandian**

 **(Those are the demonyms I'm using, anyway. Keyblade's may differ.)**

 **Dominant Type of Magic in Each Realm (You'll learn what they mean eventually. Meanwhile, you can speculate!):**

 **Realm of the Sword - Fighting, Quickening (I don't actually know what this means, but it's on Keyblade's bio as one of Amalia's abilities so yeah)  
Realm of the Spear - Minding  
Realm of the Bolt - Manipulating  
Realm of the Bow - Foreseeing  
Realm of the Scythe - Tranquilizing **

**AAAAAAAAAAAAND that's the end of the bonus round!**

 **Welp, I think that's all I've got to say! See you all in Freeze Day! (Ooh, that'll be fun!) Meanwhile, the Draclan Four are back together for now… but things are never that easy, are they? ;) You'll just have to wait and see!**

 **M &BFDIB out!**


End file.
